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Bedfordshire made national headlines today but not how you might expect

An iceberg which has been dubbed 'the size of Bedfordshire' has broken off from Antarctica, near to a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) station.

The 1,270km2, 150 metre-thick chunk of frozen water separated from the Brunt Ice Shelf this morning.

According to the BAS, there is no evidence suggesting that climate change played a significant role in the split.

Sky News used Bedfordshire as a point of reference in its breaking news story earlier this afternoon.

Beds made an appropriate comparison to help readers visualise the mammoth iceberg as the county is roughly the same size at 1,235 km2.

The report says large cracks in the ice of this part of Antarctica were first discovered a decade ago, and since then the BAS has been monitoring the area in case of just such an event.

Evidence that an iceberg may imminently split off - called calving - was first observed in November 2020 when a new chasm opened up in the region and headed towards other cracks.

During January, this new rift would extend by up to 1km a day.

Bedfordshire makes national headlines after mammoth iceberg breaks off from Antarctica