Solar storms describe any disturbances in the normal activity of the sun, which often causing eruptions that create a colourful celestial show in our skies.
Though they tend to mostly be harmless and not a danger to life on Earth, sometimes these eruptions could have disastrous consequences for all the technology we depend on, even causing widespread blackouts due to damage.
In recent days, an overactive sunspot has erupted with 17 flares, which have been firing off into space since March 28, with two more eruptions anticipated for Thursday March 31 and Friday April 1.
The upcoming storms are not predicted to cause too many troubles for our tech, however here's a look at the worst solar storms that have occurred throughout history.
Worst solar storms in history
Here are seven of the strongest solar storms recorded in the history of our solar system:
1859 Carrington Event
Referred to as The Carrington Event, the solar storm in 1859 was one of the strongest ones ever recorded.
In the first-ever documented instance of a solar flare's impact on our Earth, the storm raged on the morning of September 1 1859 and was first noticed by astronomer Richard Carrington, who gave his name to the event.
According to NASA, it's thought to have been the largest storm in the last 500 years, causing widespread interruptions to the telecommunications networks around the globe. Telegraph operators experienced minor electrical shocks from their equipment, while some fires started from the sparks coming off the telegraph systems. Luckily no lives were lost.
1921 Geomagnetic storm
Widely considered the largest recorded solar storm of the 20th century, the 1921 storm was caused by an extraordinarily large coronal mass ejection.
Occurring between May 13-15 1921, the storm impacted electrical systems, resulting in short-circuited wires and signalling systems, particularly affecting New York.
1972 solar storm across America
A major solar storm that struck Earth on August 4, 1972 knocked out long-distance phone communications across large parts of America.
About the solar storm, NASA explained: "That event, in fact, caused AT&T to redesign its power system for transatlantic cables."
The storm also caused the detonation of some sea mines and reportedly affected military operations in Vietnam.
1989 Canada solar storm
Solar storm hitting Earth today could cause 'radio blackouts'
A strong solar storm knocked out parts of Canada's electrical grid in March 1989, resulting in a major blackout that left people without power for around nine hours across several regions.
The storm was caused by a solar flare, and though it wasn't as large-scale as the Carrington Event, according to NASA it still damaged the electrical power transmission systems at the Hydro Québec generating station, also melting transformers in New Jersey.
2000 Bastille Day solar storm
This large solar storm was caused by solar flares, which registered as X5 – the highest possible scale for solar flares – and was nicknamed "Bastille Day Solar Storm" since it happened on July 14.
Considered one of the most violent storms caused by X-class flares, this event was the largest since 1989 and knocked out satellites as well as causing radio blackouts.
2003 solar storm
The solar storm, which occurred on October 28 2003, managed to overwhelmed the X-ray detector aboard NOAA's GOES satellite, which had been observing it.
The storm was so powerful that astronauts aboard the International Space Station were advised to seek shelter from the elevated radiation levels, NASA explained.
Meanwhile, on Earth, airlines were re-routed and polar routes were also temporarily restricted.
2006 solar storm
This storm was caused by another X-class solar flare being ejected from the Sun on December 5 2006.
It's impact caused GPS signals and satellite-to-ground communications to go down for around 10 minutes. The flare was also powerful enough to cause damage to the solar X-ray imager on the GOES 13 satellite that snapped its picture.
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