Researchers have warned that there is roughly a 12 per cent chance that a solar storm could smash into Earth by the end of the decade.

The powerful event would likely be as huge as the Carrington Event, which occurred on 1859.

The solar storm which hit 150 years ago was so powerful that its southern auroras could be seen as far north as Queensland in Australia.

Today, in a modern world so dependent on technology, the implications would be far more severe.