A drone's control link and video downlink rely on radio frequencies that travel through the same upper atmosphere that geomagnetic activity disturbs.
The chain of cause and effect
Solar wind — a continuous stream of charged particles from the sun — intensifies during solar storms and compresses and disturbs Earth's magnetosphere. That disturbance couples down into the ionosphere, altering how radio signals refract and propagate. Most consumer drones operate in the 2.4 GHz or 5.8 GHz bands, which are less sensitive to ionospheric effects than long-range HF radio, but are not entirely immune, especially at the fringes of a drone's control range.
What pilots actually notice
The more commonly reported issue isn't a dropped link outright, but increased signal instability at marginal range — more frequent brief video stutters, or a control link that briefly warns of interference in conditions where it normally wouldn't, during periods of elevated geomagnetic activity.
Don't over-attribute every glitch to space weather
Most control-link interruptions have far more mundane causes: Wi-Fi congestion, physical obstructions, or antenna orientation. Solar-driven interference is a real but comparatively rare contributor, worth knowing about but not the first thing to suspect.
Practical guidance
Fly closer to your maximum comfortable range (not the drone's absolute maximum) during periods of elevated Kp, and treat any unusual link warning as a cue to bring the drone closer rather than push further away.