[per loin]

Comment added at 11:40 UTC: The X18 flare has sent a very large solar storm towards the Earth. The speed of this storm is exceptional, probably several thousand km/sec judging from the expansion in LASCO C2 images (see below). This flare is also a proton flare.

[per loin]

Comment added at 13:05 UTC: The X18+ flare in region 10486 had an amazing effect on most of the visible solar disk. It triggered large filament eruptions to the westnorthwest and east and caused a disintegration of the southern polar crown filament in the southwest quadrant. Some of the effects can be noted in this Solar Soft movie. Notice that the focus is off target, the focus is at the major M8 event in the eastern part of the region. The X18 flare was centered further west.

Proton levels at Earth are increasing quickly and this could become a major proton event.