A GROUNDBREAKING multi-million pound project by Southampton scientists is shedding light on how ocean currents affect global warming.

Ten years of study have led experts from the city’s National Oceanography Centre to conclude that movements in the Atlantic are having an effect on British winters.

They have spent £20 million to analyse the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) – a major system of currents in the North Atlantic.

Now they have results which prove after the winter of 2010/11 that the sea surface and temperatures directly impact British weather.

The discovery was made after the sea surface in 2009/10 was much lower than normal as was the heat of the water, months before temperatures plummeted in the UK.

During this time the sea level in New York had also raised four times the global average at 13 centimetres.

Scientists have now been granted more time to investigate this data.

They have been collecting data in the AMOC waters using equipment to monitor the heat of the water, the water pressure and how much salt is in the water.

This equipment is based in 30 different spots across the Atlantic, between the Canary Islands and the Bahamas.

Research has also shown that these waters are more unpredictable than scientists realised and that the AMOC is declining quicker than previously thought.

That appeared to confirm that the AMOC had a direct impact on Britain’s winter weather, which could be specifically seen with respect to the harsh winter of 2010/11.

Scientists from the National Oceanography Centre, Atmospheric Association and the University of Miami have been analysing this data and recently discovered using ocean sensors that the AMOC is declining faster than expected and could affect the British climate more permanently.

The project is now set to continue for five more years, until 2020, as funding has been extended by the National Environmental Research Council.

Daily Echo:

Research scientist Dr Gerard McCarthy said: “The findings from the project to date have been really exciting and surprising.

“The data that we’ve been collecting has helped to build a bigger picture of how the AMOC is changing and the impact this can have on our climate here in the UK.

“We are continuing to analyse this important data and are planning even more advanced collection techniques going forward.”