Three norths are no longer calling Berwick a home

DANIEL HALL explains why the alignment of the three recognised 'norths' which saw them reside in the North East has now passed - and explains what the definitions mean and what happens next

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THE historic alignment of true, magnetic and grid north has left England at Berwick-upon-Tweed.

True north is the direction to the geographic North Pole, grid north is where the vertical blue lines shown on Ordnance Survey (OS) maps converge, and magnetic north is the direction that a compass needle points as it aligns with the Earth's magnetic field.

In November 2022, geospatial history was made as all three “norths” aligned and met at a point in Langton Matravers in Dorset, England, for the first time.

Now, after three historic years together, magnetic field data collected by the British Geological Survey (BGS) and calculations made by the OS showed the triple alignment would leave England at Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland on Saturday gone and move into the North Sea.

It is predicted that the triple alignment will hit land again at the end of October next year in Drums, in Scotland.

It will then pass through Mintlaw, before its last stop in Fraserburgh around mid-December 2026, eventually returning to the North Sea.