A number of observational studies have reported a connection between various lower atmospheric parameters and a range of geomagnetic and solar coronal indices. The bulk of the Sun's magnetized plasma energy is absorbed in the high-latitude upper atmosphere, far removed from the troposphere and the stratosphere, so a physical mechanism which accounts for these correlations has proved elusive. In this paper, a mechanistic three-dimensional model of the atmosphere between 10 and 130 km has been developed to demonstrate that high energy particles from the solar wind can perturb the winter stratosphere significantly. Planetary waves provide an effective means of coupling solar-induced changes in the thermosphere down to the stratosphere. A qualitatively similar response to forcing by increasing solar ultraviolet radiation was obtained even though there was no in situ forcing in the stratosphere. ¿ 2001 American Geophysical Union