BEIJING, May 11.< /strong>China's National Space Weather Forecasting Center has announced a red warning level due to a powerful magnetic storm.
As follows from a statement published on Saturday on the official website of the center, in the morning of May 11, Beijing time (the difference with Moscow is +5 hours), a “powerful geomagnetic disturbance” occurred. The Kp index has reached its highest level — ninth, which corresponds to the “red” warning level. 
B The center noted that this is “the strongest geomagnetic storm since November 2004.” According to scientists' forecast, the geomagnetic field will remain at the level of a geomagnetic storm «in the next 11-13 days.»
The statement indicates that a magnetic storm, in particular, can affect the quality of radio communications, the accuracy of navigation and positioning.
China has a four-level warning system for adverse weather conditions. Red indicates the highest level of danger, followed by orange, yellow and blue levels.
Earlier, the head of the solar astronomy laboratory of the Institute of Space Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Sergei Bogachev, reported that a magnetic storm of the highest (fifth) level is occurring on Earth, the last time this happened 20 years ago.
Coronal mass ejections are explosions of plasma from the Sun. When they reach the Earth they cause a geomagnetic storm. During a severe geomagnetic storm, a coronal mass ejection can interact with the Earth's magnetic field, disrupting it and sending pulses of electrical current along power lines, which can damage equipment.