Confusion as Google Maps quirk shows Great Britain located 'just north of Burnley'

People have been asking why Google Maps shows Great Britain in a certain area just north of Burnley. Great Britain is located between Burnley, Blackburn and Clitheroe on the map - but there is a definitive reason why.

One confused person took to social platform Reddit to ask: "Why does Google Maps always show 'Great Britain' as being specifically in this spot near Burnley?" They also included a screenshot of the map which shows Great Britain located in Lancashire.

Over 130 people have since commented on the post, with one person explaining exactly why it is located where it is on the map. User Waste-Session-Bubble pointed out that it is the exact centre point of the nation.

According to Ordnance Survey, the centre of Great Britain is located 7km north west of Dunsop Bridge in Lancashire. The specific location is near the Whitendale Hanging Stones on Brennard Farm in the Forest of Bowland.

The Ordnance Survey added: "Looking only at the mainland of Great Britain, the location is 4 km north west of Calderstones Hospital near Clitheroe, Lancashire. The mainland result confirmed the findings of analogue experiments carried out by a Brigadier Winterbotham, reported in the Geographical Journal in 1941.

"However as with all such calculations, the level of accuracy is limited by the scale of data used. At the 1: 625 000 scale, the precision of the reference will be to a few hundred metres."

They added: "The location of Britain’s true centre may never be entirely clear but the calculations we have made are as close as we feel we can get to answer a question that is likely to generate debate for many years to come."

A number of Reddit users have replied to the answer with some being left confused. JKL246 said: "I’ve also wondered this - great to have an answer."

Farsydi replied: "I sent a photo of this phenomenon to a friend who lived around there once asking if there was a town called Great Britain near there, they ripped me for a few weeks. It definitely doesn't seem like the centre."

MaximusSydney commented: "Seems fairly obvious that it's the central point?"