Space storms could cause mass blackouts and destroy computers, gov't agency warns

Huge solar storms could cause electricity blackouts, destroy computers and bring down the Internet and all communications, a study has found. The Met Office has told U.K. ministers a flare up of the kind that has hit Earth two or three times in 200 years would cost the country 16 billion pounds ($20.5 million) in catastrophic damage. Such flares generate intense magnetic fields over Earth, which in a flash could burn out delicate electronics and even set them on fire, The Sunday Times is reporting. Britain risks being crippled by huge electrical disturbances caused by storms in space, unless a satellite network is built that can detect them coming. The Met Office study said: "We find that for a one-in-100-year event, with no space weather forecasting capability, the gross domestic product loss to the United Kingdom could be as high as 15.9 billion pounds. "With existing satellites nearing the end of their life, forecasting capability will decrease in coming years, so if no further investment takes place, critical infrastructure will become more vulnerable to space weather."