Iceberg size of London breaks off in Antarctica

A big iceberg roughly the size of Greater London has broken away from the Antarctic, close to Britain’s Halley research station, Report informs referring to BBC.

Sensors on the surface of the Brunt Ice Shelf confirmed the split late on Sunday GMT.

Currently, 21 staff are at Halley, maintaining the base and operating its scientific instruments.

They are not in any danger and will continue their work until they're due to be picked up early next month.

The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has been operating the station in a reduced role in anticipation of the calving.

Halley is positioned a good 20km from the line of rupture.

BAS has an array of GPS devices in the area that relay information about ice movements back to the agency's HQ in Cambridge.

Officials will be inspecting satellite imagery when it becomes available. They will want to see that no unexpected instabilities emerge in the remaining ice shelf platform that holds Halley.

A similar sized berg, known as A74, calved in February 2021 further to the east. At the time, it was thought that its departure might initiate the latest breakaway, but these events are beyond any confident prediction.