Over 20MILLION people from the West Coast to Plains are under red weather warnings with unseasonal spring storms bringing tornadoes, snow and hail – as forecasters warn geomagnetic storm and solar flares will interfere with radios today

More than 20 million people from California to the Midwest are facing ‘severe’ blizzards and thunderstorms, while tornados are set to batter southern states.

Winter weather alerts are in place across vast swathes of the country, split into warm and cold parts of a fierce storm that is set to bring power outages and make travel ‘nearly impossible’. 

The cold part of the storm, across northern and central states, will see thick snow, blizzards and freezing rain. 

In the warm part of the weather system, in the southern states, the National Weather Service has warned ‘tornadoes and damaging winds are possible through tonight.’

It comes as space weather forecasters have issued a geomagnetic storm watch warning through Monday predicting a solar flare could interfere with radio transmissions on Earth. 

The National Weather Service warned on Monday that a ‘powerful storm system will impact the Northern/Central Plains into the Upper Midwest through Tuesday’. 

They said ‘snow and gusty winds will continue from the Central Plains to northern Minnesota, along with some sleet and freezing rain in parts of the Upper Mississippi Valley.’

Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota are all expected to see thick snow, with the service warning: ‘Heavy snow and gusty winds approaching 50 mph will produce blizzard conditions with near zero visibility into early Tuesday. 

‘Travel could be nearly impossible.’

They added: ‘Power outages and tree damage are likely in some areas due to the heavy and wet snow combined with icing and strong winds.’

On Sunday over 360,000 homes were left without power after snow and storms battered the Northeast. 

More than 197,000 households in Maine, 81,000 in New York state, and 73,000 in New Hampshire were plunged into blackouts. 

160,000 homes were still without power late Sunday night.  

Minnesota and Colorado are expected to see a dangerous combination of two inches per hour of snow and wind gusts of up to 60mph. 

Meanwhile from parts of east Texas through the Lower Mississippi Valley there is a risk of tornadoes and damaging winds tonight and an enhanced risk of severe thunderstorms. 

Tornadoes have already hit parts of Texas with one touching down south of Perryton on Sunday. 

Video footage showed the twister forming quickly, pulling rain clouds together into a thick band before spinning across a field.

Ochiltree General Hospital announced it had ‘been hit by the tornado that touched down.’

As well as tornado warnings, Texas is also under a ‘critical fire weather area’ warning, issued by the Storm Prediction Center, due to very dry and gusty winds. 

Tornado warnings are also in place across Oklahoma with footage from the weekend showing dramatic lightning storms and twisters starting to form but not touching down. 

Experts have predicted hail the size of ping pong balls could hit the state with the storms with residents warned to ‘be prepared to act quickly.’ 

It comes as space weather forecasters have issued a geomagnetic storm watch through Monday, warning an outburst of plasma from a solar flare could interfere with radio transmissions on Earth. 

There’s no reason for the public to be concerned, according to the alert issued Saturday by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.

The storm could interrupt high-frequency radio transmissions, such as by aircraft trying to communicate with distant traffic control towers. 

Most commercial aircraft can use satellite transmission as backup, said Jonathan Lash, a forecaster at the center.

Satellite operators might have trouble tracking their spacecraft, and power grids could also see some ‘induced current’ in their lines, though nothing they can’t handle, he said.

‘For the general public, if you have clear skies at night and you are at higher latitudes, this would be a great opportunity to see the skies light up,’ Lash said.

Every 11 years, the sun’s magnetic field flips, meaning its north and south poles switch positions. Solar activity changes during that cycle, and it’s now near its most active, called the solar maximum.

During such times, geomagnetic storms of the type that arrived Sunday can hit Earth a few times a year, Lash said. During solar minimum, a few years may pass between storms.

In December, the biggest solar flare in years disrupted radio communications.