Asteroid strike off Yorkshire sent mega-tsunami racing toward Britain, study confirm

After years of debate, scientists have finally proven that a cosmic collision off the Yorkshire coast sent a mega-tsunami taller than Big Ben surging across the ancient North Sea.

According to researchers, a 160-metre-wide asteroid smashed into the southern North Sea around 40 million years ago. The smash carved a hidden crater leading to the generation of a wave exceeding 100 metres (330ft) in height. This is more than double the height of the iconic London landmark.

The study published in Nature Communications ends years of speculations surrounding the Silverpit structure that is buried 700 metres beneath the seabed and roughly 80 miles off the coast of Hull.

In 2002, the Silverpit’s distinctive bullseye pattern was detected for the first time. Since then, experts remain divided over whether it was an asteroid impact, shifting underground salt deposits, or a volcanic collapse.

Even in 2009, a group of scientists voted against its association with an asteroid.

The new investigation led by Dr. Uisdean Nicholson from Heriot-Watt University combines the cutting-edge seismic imaging with samples from an offshore oil well to discover ultra-rare “shocked” quartz and feldspar, microscopic crystals that can only be forged in biolent asteroid impacts.

The research revealed that the asteroid tore in from the west at a shallow angle, blasting up a 1.5 kilometre-high curtain of seawater and shattered rock within minutes.

The Silverpit structure is now considered one of the best-preserved impact craters on Earth.