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The Younger Dryas stadial, named after the alpine / tundra wildflower Dryas octopetala, and also referred to as the Big Freeze [1], was a brief (approximately 1300 ± 70 years [1]) cold climate period following the Bölling/Allerød interstadial at the end of the Pleistocene between approximately 12,700 to 11,500 years Before Present [2], and preceding the Preboreal of the early Holocene. In Ireland, the period has been known as the Nahanagan Stadial, while in the UK it has been called the Loch Lomond Stadial and most recently Greenland Stadial 1 (GS1) - See INTIMATE PROJECT (Integration of Ice, Marine and Terrestrial records), an INQUA Palaeoclimate subcommittee).