Britain could be heading for a ‘big freeze’ if global warming switches off an ocean current called the Gulf Stream, some ocean scientists say.

Britain is kept relatively mild in the winter by the warm air blanket brought to us from the tropics by a branch of the Gulf Stream.



But if global warming continues to melt major ice sheets, that supply of warm air could come to an abrupt end, according to some experts.



The Gulf Stream relies on a sensitive ‘conveyer belt’ action, which could be ’switched off’ – quite suddenly – if it becomes diluted by fresh water from the melting ice-sheets, they claim.



Dr Terry Joyce, an oceanographer from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, US, believes there is a 50% chance of an sudden climate change happening in the next 100 years.



“It will be quick,” he says. “Suddenly…



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