Solar storms are giant clouds of particles ejected from the Sun into space during solar eruptions. When solar storms are directed toward Earth, they can cause large disturbances in near‐Earth space, for example, disrupting communications or damaging spacecraft electronics. Understanding in detail what happens when solar storms reach Earth is crucial to mitigate their effects. Using measurements from the Cluster spacecraft, we investigate how solar storms modify the properties of the very first region of near‐Earth space they encounter when journeying toward Earth. This region, called the foreshock, extends ahead of the protective bubble formed by the Earth's magnetic field, the magnetosphere. The foreshock is home to intense electromagnetic waves, and disturbances in this region can perturb the Earth's magnetosphere. Our study reveals that solar storms modify profoundly the foreshock, resulting in a more complex wave activity. Global numerical simulations performed with the Vlasiator code confirm our findings. These changes could affect the regions of space closer to Earth, for example, in modifying the wave properties or the amount of solar particles entering the Earth's magnetosphere. This needs to be taken into account to better anticipate the effects of solar storms at Earth.