A geomagnetic storm has been forecast to hit Earth this week, due to high speed solar wind streams resulting from a coronal hole. This all sounds very scary, and media coverage of the event has ranged from apocalyptic to promising a planet bathed in beautiful auroras, but the truth is a little less spectacular than that.

Most of us won't actually notice the solar storm's activity at all - but if you're lucky you may get a glimpse of an aurora.

Super hurricane Irma is causing a ton of cruise and flight cancellations in addition to delays and course changes. But your travel insurance should cover all that, right? Maybe. Maybe not.

The Earth is getting warmer. That's a fact. And as the Earth gets warmer, we expect to see larger and stronger hurricanes. Also a fact. But there are folks denying these facts, even to the point of blaming the liberal media for the fact that hurricanes are in the news.

People who live in areas where it snows may be aware at just how terrible snow forecasts tend to be. That's because snow is especially difficult to predict.

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The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe thunderstorm warning with the possibility of flash flooding and damaging winds for the Hunter, Metropolitan, Illawarra, Central Tablelands, Southern Tablelands and parts of the South Coast, North West Slopes and Plains, Central West Slopes and Plains, South West Slopes and Australian Capital Territory forecast districts. Heavy rains and a potential storm are also expected to hit Sydney's CBD this afternoon. Here are the details.

A fourth death has been attributed to Melbourne’s “thunderstorm asthma” emergency on Monday night, and it was lucky there were not more, according to the state’s health minister. More than 2000 people suffered breathing problems when a severe storm combined with an extreme pollen count to cause what is being described as “thunderstorm asthma”.

Hospitals across Melbourne were put on emergency alert on Monday night as thousands of people called ambulance services, reporting breathing difficulties and other severe symptoms. Emergency rooms were so strained that day units were opened to handle the overflow. It was a severe outbreak of the phenomenon called "thunderstorm asthma" -- but how does an emergency like this actually happen?

If you suffer from itchy eyes, a runny nose, headaches and excessive sneezing this time of year, you’re certainly not alone. Hay fever or allergic rhinitis is an allergic reaction to pollen and affects one in six Australians. But when you combine high pollen counts with thunderstorms and warm weather, a much more serious phenomenon can unfold: thunderstorm asthma attacks.

It's no fun to lose power for hours or days, especially if you end up having to throw out the food in your fridge. If you know a big storm is coming, you can keep food safe longer by filling your freezer with jugs of water.