It’s been 20 years since The Day After Tomorrow hit cinemas – and now scientists have warned that the terrifying plot could soon become a reality.
The film portrays a massive “superstorm” caused by the collapse of the Gulf Stream, causing catastrophic natural disasters and ushering in a new ice age on Earth.
In the blockbuster, characters are frozen under layers of snow, drowned in massive tsunamis and dramatically crushed under vehicles tossed by tornadoes.
But what would actually happen here in Britain if the Gulf Stream collapsed?
Speaking to MailOnline, experts revealed how Britain could be plunged into a deep freeze – with winter conditions that could be up to 15°C colder than normal.
In the Hollywood blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow (pictured), ocean currents around the world stop due to global warming, creating a new ice age on Earth
In the blockbuster, characters are frozen under layers of snow, drowned in massive tsunamis and dramatically crushed under vehicles thrown by tornadoes
The Gulf Stream is part of a much broader system of currents, officially called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which scientists say could collapse as early as 2025.
Described as “the ocean’s conveyor belt,” the AMOC transports warm water near the ocean’s surface northward from the tropics to the Northern Hemisphere.
Here in Britain, its collapse would cause temperatures to drop, professor said David Thornalley, climate scientist at University College London.
‘Unfortunately, people would die as a result of stronger winter storms and flooding, and many elderly and young people would be vulnerable to the very cold winter temperatures,’ he told MailOnline.
Jonathan Bamber, professor of Earth Observation at the University of Bristol, agreed that if the AMOC were to collapse, the climate in north-west Europe would be ‘unrecognizable compared to what it is now’.
“It would be several degrees cooler so winters would be more typical of Arctic Canada,” he told MailOnline.
Rene van West, a climate scientist and oceanographer at Utrecht University, predicts that British summer temperatures will be around 3 to 5 degrees lower than now.
AMOC collapse: It would change weather worldwide because it means a shutdown of one of the planet’s most important climate and ocean forces. Temperatures in northwestern Europe would drop by 9 to 27 degrees (5 to 15 degrees Celsius) in the coming decades
Formally known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), it powers the Gulf Stream which brings warm water from the Gulf of Mexico to the northeastern US coast
Meanwhile, winter temperatures could be 10 to 15 degrees lower on average, although certain parts of Britain would bear the brunt.
For example, if the annual average surface temperature over London fell by 7°C, the temperature change would be greater further north (to -21.6°F/-12°C), as in Scotland, van Westen said.
However, according to Professor Thornalley, the effects in Britain would be small compared to other regions.
Elsewhere in the world, a collapse of the AMOC would cause a shift in the tropical rain belt – an area of rain surrounding the tropics.
“(This) would massively disrupt agriculture and water supplies in large parts of the world,” Professor Thornalley said.
‘Many millions would be affected and suffer from drought, famine and floods, in countries that are already struggling to tackle these problems.
“There would be huge numbers of climate refugees and geopolitical tensions would increase.”
According to the new study, the AMOC has recently shown signs of a trend towards a crucial ‘tipping point’, after which a collapse would soon follow.
Exactly when this tipping point might occur is uncertain, although it could be a matter of decades, rather than centuries as previously thought.
“At this point we cannot say anything about the distance to an abrupt AMOC collapse (i.e. the Day After Tomorrow scenario),” Van Westen told MailOnline.
“Our analysis simply suggests that we are heading toward the tipping point.”
If the AMOC collapses, people in Britain would die from stronger winter storms and floods, and many elderly and young people would be vulnerable to the very cold winter temperatures. Pictured: A flooded street in Alconbury Weston, Cambridgeshire this month
A collapse of the AMOC would cause a shift in the tropical rain belt – an area of rain surrounding the tropics.
In ‘The Day After Tomorrow’, a collapse of the AMOC occurs within days and the fictional weather immediately changes to extreme cold, leaving the characters completely unprepared.
Fortunately, such a rapid transition won’t happen in real life, says Penny Holliday, head of marine physics and ocean circulation at the National Oceanography Center in Southampton.
“If the AMOC reaches a tipping point, it will happen in at least decades,” she told MailOnline.
“However, a slowdown in AMOC, whether it occurs quickly or plays out over decades, will lead to the onset of more extreme and violent weather systems that have the potential to cause deaths and major damage.”