The compass needle points towards the North magnetic pole, and the position of the magnetic pole changes as a result of actual geomagnetic field activity.

The location of the magnetic North Pole differs from the geographic location of the North Pole which is always fixed at the intersection of all lines of longitude.

Dr William Brown, a global geomagnetic field modeler with the British Geological Survey (BGS), said the magnetic north pole has been migrating along the northern coast of Canada for centuries. By the 1990s, it had drifted into the Arctic Ocean, and then accelerated its migration to Russia, specifically heading straight for Siberia.

Between 1600 and 1990, the north magnetic pole was estimated to have drifted at about 10-15 km/year. By the early 2000s, the rate had increased to about 55 km/year, Dr Brown told The Independent .

The data comes from the World Geomagnetic Model, created by BGS in collaboration with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The next forecast model will be released in December.

Over the past five years, the North Magnetic Pole has slowed down to about 25 km/year.

The BGS and NOAA model is intended to support compass tools on mobile phones, as well as GPS systems, and allow the military to use it during submarine movements in the Arctic Ocean.

“The World Geomagnetic Model is built into every piece of technology, from mobile phones to cars and fighter jets,” said Dr Brown.

It is impossible to predict the exact movement of the North Magnetic Pole, but the BGS can monitor the geomagnetic field. British scientists are using a network of ground stations and satellites to map the geomagnetic field in many different locations.