The electromagnetic storm which hit the upper atmosphere over Iceland, Scandinavia, Greenland and North America this week was the biggest since December 2006.
Astronomer Thorsteinn Saemundsson said that the storm hit at 03.00 yesterday and added that it may not yet be over, mbl.is reports.
“It is still again now. But another gust could come this evening or later. This particular electromagnetic storm did not last long – roughly a day. It is a long time since we saw so much electromagnetic disturbance. In fact not since December 2006, although that was a much bigger storm than this. A disturbance is classified as two points either side of normal, and it went over seven points over in 2006,” Saemundsson said.
The main effect of such a big electromagnetic storm is to bring a huge northern lights display, the likes of which were seen in parts of the USA, Canada and Scandinavia. The lights were not seen in Iceland as the sky is still too bright at 03.00 each morning.
Saemundsson said he has not received reports of any damage caused by the electromagnetic storm – but there are examples of such storms harming electricity grids and satellites orbiting Earth.
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