65m meteor crater discovered

An underwater crater left by a huge meteorite which collided with earth 65 million years ago has been discovered 80 miles off the Yorkshire coast.

It is the first impact crater of international importance to be found in the British Isles.

The Silverpit crater, which is named after a North Sea fishery, is almost two miles wide and 1,000ft deep and scientists believe it was caused by an asteroid weighing two million tonnes and travelling at around 3,500mph.

The impact would have produced an explosion about 50,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. The crater was discovered by consultant geophysicist Phil Allen.