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The world is so dependent on GPS, that a powerful solar storm could rapidly cripple banks, send ships floundering on rocks and create chaos on the roads.

Now, in an attempt to prepare for the threat, the UK government has rolled out a 'GPS back up', dubbed eLoran.

Seven different stations are now working to provide additional position, navigation and timing information to ships.

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In an attempt to prepare for the threat, the UK government has rolled out a 'GPS back up', dubbed eLoran

The technology is based on long wave radio signals and is completely independent to GPS. This means, in the event of a solar storm, trade routes would remain open.

Two eLoran receivers were already located in Dover and Harwich, and five have just been deployed in Thames, Humber, Middlesbrough, Firth of Forth, and Aberdeen.

The technology provides a signal around one million times more powerful than those from satellites and full operational capability covering all major UK ports is expected by 2019.

The aim is to ensure ships can navigate safely in the event of GPS failure in one of the busiest shipping regions in the world, which will have 200,000 vessels crossing it every year by 2020.

The world is so dependent on GPS, that a powerful solar storm could rapidly cripple banks, send ships floundering on to rocks and create chaos on the roads

Earlier this year, scientists warned solar 'super-storms' pose a 'catastrophic' and 'long-lasting' threat to Earth

At the moment, ships – which carry 95 per cent of UK trade – are hugely reliant on GPS to help them navigate the seas. 

The European Commission estimates that an €800 billion (£690bn or $1,105bn) segment of the European economy is currently dependent on global satellite navigation systems.

But GPS signals are vulnerable to interference and both deliberate and accidental jamming.

For instance, GPS jammers are widely available online for as little as £30 ($48) and are capable of causing complete outages across all models of receiver currently on the market. 

Just as worrying is the threat of solar storms. Earlier this year, scientists warned solar 'super-storms' pose a 'catastrophic' and 'long-lasting' threat to life on Earth.

These huge storms are caused by violent eruptions on the surface of the sun and are accompanied by coronal mass ejections, or CMEs.

CMEs are the most energetic events in our solar system - involving huge bubbles of plasma and magnetic fields being spewed from the sun's surface into space.

A solar superstorm occurs when a CME of sufficient magnitude tears into the Earth's surrounding magnetic field and rips it apart.

Such an event would induce huge surges of electrical currents in the ground and in overhead transmission lines, causing damage to GPS.

As a system entirely independent of GPS, eLoran can provide navigation information for vessels as well as the timing data necessary to maintain the power grid, mobile phones and financial networks.

Unlike satellites, eLoran signals can also reach inside buildings, under-ground and under water.

Two eLoran receivers were already located in Dover and Harwich, and five have just been deployed in Thames, Humber, Middlesbrough, Firth of Forth, and Aberdeen (right)

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Grant Laversuch head of safety at P&O Ferries said: 'Pinpoint-accurate positioning and navigation is especially vital for us because we operate in the busiest shipping lane in the world.

'Our ships had occasionally experienced loss of satellite signal so we trialled eLoran as a crucial 'back-up' to ensure we can navigate accurately at all times and provide an extra guarantee of passenger safety.'

The UK is the first in the world to deploy this technology for shipping companies operating both passenger and cargo services.

However, other nations are also interested. In 2012, for instance, South Korea was the victim of a 16-day GPS jamming attack by North Korea.

South Korea has expressed that it wants to establish an eLoran alliance with the UK while it pursues its own rollout of differential eLoran reference stations.