Earth is 'overdue' a SUPERFLARE stronger than billions of atomic bombs

Solar superflares capable of wiping out power grids and satellites are far more common than scientists once thought.

Researchers now believe that these disastrous events occur once every 100 years , rather than once every 1,000 to 10,000 as was thought.

This means that Earth may soon be struck by a solar 'tantrum' releasing one octillion joules of energy - that's one followed by 27 zeros .

That's over 100 times more powerful than the Carrington Event of 1859 which collapsed parts of the telegraph network and ignited sheets of paper in offices.

An impact from a superflare would overload power grids, knock satellites out of orbit, silence global communication networks, and.

The impact of a solar flare is particularly bad for satellites which sit beyond the protective shield of Earth 's atmosphere.

Not only can the impact of ionising radiation affect communications systems, but solar flares can even pull satellites out of orbit.

In 2031 , the European Space Agency will launch the Vigil satellite to provide an early warning of solar storms.