On Tuesday the 15th of September the Solar Cycle 25 Prediction Panel of international experts confirmed that Solar Cycle 24 has ended and Solar Cycle 25 began back in December 2019.
The reason for the delay in announcing this is that due to variation in the suns activity it can actually take up to 10 months to confirm a new solar cycle.
Solar Cycle 25 is expected to be similar to Solar Cycle 24 which was the weakest on record, however as we approach the maxima expected in 2025 it should still offer significantly improved propagation compared to the minima which we are currently experiencing.