Auroras?

See http://spaceweather.com/ .

We could be in for some auroras with a strong blast of solar wind over the next few days. This could lead to some auroral DX on VHF.

Solar hole

Southgate News reports on a Spaceweather post that a solar hole is spewing the solar wind towards Earth. The worst should hit around Feb 1st, which is tomorrow. Obviously, this could impact HF conditions.

See http://spaceweather.com/ .

Lightning and solar activity

Dr Steve Collins of Sheffield University has pointed me to this fascinating link on the BBC website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-27406358 .   It shows  how solar activity and lightning are linked, possibly allowing a means of predicting future lightning activity.