It is well known that the Earth is predominately saved from the solar wind, a stream of energetic charged particles emanating from the magnetized Sun, by its geomagnetic field, thereby deflecting most of the charged particles. Some of the charged particles from the magnetized solar wind are trapped in the “Van Allen radiation belt”. This belt carries the existential signatures of the resultant indirect magnetic field-field coupling stemming from the naturalistic geo-solar magnetic activities.
A considerable population of the solar wind particles however manage to travel, as though on an electromagnetic energy transmission line, to the Earth's upper atmosphere and ionosphere in the auroral zones.
The only time the solar wind is observable on the Earth is when it is strong enough to produce phenomena such as the aurora and geomagnetic storms. Bright auroras strongly heat the ionosphere, causing its plasma to expand into the magnetosphere, increasing the size of the plasma geosphere, and causing escape of atmospheric matter into the solar wind. The geomagnetic storms originate when the pressure exerted by the magnetized plasmas contained inside the magnetosphere is sufficiently large to amplify and thereby distort the geomagnetic field in an impulsive manner.
Sun is influencing to Earth's magnetic field more by energetic particles than by its own magnetic field. Actually, it is combination of both, the Sun's field (usually named interplanetary magnetic field IMF) plus solar energetic particles SEP. Most energetic influence is the geomagnetic storm when great bunch of ejected plasma - the coronal mass ejection CME will impact to Earth's magnetosphere and local orientation of IMF (its Bz component) is oriented the way allowing big injection of SEP into Earth's radiation (van Allen) belts. The injected charged particles are drifting around Earth creating the ring current and ring current is producing a magnetic field oriented against natural Earth field. This causes drop of stormtime magnetic field. The level of geomagnetic storm is expressed by Dst index, you can see the Dst index at Kyoto university website http://wdc.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dst_realtime/
Earth's magnetic field protects the planet's atmosphere from the solar wind, which energetic particles. The interaction between the sun and Earth's magnetic fields sometimes cause storms of explosive nature in the space near Earth. Most energetic influence is the geomagnetic storm when great bunch of ejected plasma - the coronal mass ejection CME will impact to Earth's magnetosphere and local orientation of IMF (its Bz component) is oriented the way allowing big injection of SEP into Earth's radiation (van Allen) belts.
Sun is influencing to Earth's magnetic field more by energetic particles than by its own magnetic field. Actually, it is combination of both, the Sun's field (usually named interplanetary magnetic field IMF) plus solar energetic particles SEP.
If you want, you can see parts of what Jan Balaz mentioned (separate comment) in generalist articles I wrote on some recent professional research. It's a broader view of what you're interested in. (Article 1 goes covers some flaring effects on earth you're interested in.)