In the hottest part of the Cold War, the U.S and Soviet Union get their wires crossed and detonate nuclear tests virtually simultaneously. Soon dramatic climate changes begin occurring. In London, officials at 10 Downing Street offer no definitive explanations. Are they clueless or hiding something big? It takes scrappy reporter Peter Stenning (Judd) to expose the emerging catastrophe that could end life on earth.

This literate British sci-fi tale is disturbing in its prescience: just substitute the reality of global warming for the premise of a nuclear mishap and behold a spookily familiar result: extreme weather patterns — hurricanes, floods and droughts — transforming our natural world, and compromising our survival. Judd is fine in his film debut (slightly reminiscent of Sean Connery), but it is Leo McKern as loyal newspaper colleague Bill Maguire who wins top acting laurels. An unsung champ from our English cousins.