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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2016
There are many types of solar flare, but the classic type is a two-ribbon flare with three phases — a preflare phase, a rise phase and a main phase. The properties of these phases are described, together with some recent observational advances in understanding the conditions for solar flares. Such flares are thought to be caused by an eruptive MHD instability which drives reconnection and therefore energy conversion. A review is given of our current understanding of the nature of this instability and the resulting reconnection process, including a recent attempt to describe its three-dimensional nature.