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The UK Could Be Hit By A New Ice Age

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Picture: REX/Shutterstock

Just as the weather starts to get slightly warmer in Britain, we’re hit with the news that the UK could be on the verge of a mini Ice Age. Typical.

That’s according to forecasters at the Met Office, who have confirmed that temperatures could plummet as chillingly low as 300 years ago – when it was so cold that the River Thames froze over.

When the ‘mini Ice-Age’ occurred during 1645 and 1715, it got so cold that a bed of ice formed on the River Thames, and it was thick enough to host a ‘frost fair’ on the river – so perhaps it’s not a bad thing after all.

Scientists believe that the big freeze could be caused by a lack of sunspots, which are the dark spots on the sun believed to be responsible for increased solar activity.

This same observation was noticed by astronomer Walter Maunder – who noticed low sunspot levels during the ‘Little Age’ between 1645 and 1715.

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You shouldn’t panic too much though, as the icy invasion could occur at any point within the next 40 years.

But even if it does occur, it still won’t cancel out the effects of global warming on the planet, according to Met Office scientist Sarah Ineson.

‘This research shows that the regional impacts of a grand solar minimum are likely to be larger than the global effect, but it’s still nowhere near big enough to override the expected global warming trend due to man-made change’, she said.

‘This means that even if we were to see a return to levels of solar activity not seen since the Maunder Minimum, our winters would likely still be getting milder overall.’