Factual error: There is a scene where a helicopter's tail rotor freezes up, causing the copter to spin out of control and crash. The problem with this scene is that the helicopter starts to spin clockwise, in the SAME direction as the main rotor blades. In actuality, engine torque would cause a conventional tail-rotor helicopter to spin in the OPPOSITE direction of the rotor blades, in the event of a tail rotor failure.
Audio problem: The pitch of an airliner's engine doesn't change dramatically when going through rough turbulence. In the scene with the turbulence - after all is quiet, it almost sounds as if the engines are shut down. And it happens way to fast for it to be the pilots doing it. And why would the pilots speed up when entering turbulence?
Plot hole: Dennis Quaid and his companion seem to have no problems staying warm in just a tent while preparing to sleep for the night; they are actually shown with removed layers of clothing while in the tent. Yet the survivors in the library are covered from head to toe in clothing and blankets.
Suggested correction: Jack and Jason are both extremely close to the heat source in the tent when they sleep at night (within a foot or less) and it's also possible the tent is rated for arctic survival, whereas the survivors in the library aren't always close to the only heat source (being the fireplace). Just because you are inside doesn't mean it's automatically warm. Just like in a house or a garage, even with proper insulation the temperature inside can be equal to the temperature outside.
Factual error: At the end of the film a wing of Black Hawk helicopters are dispatched to NYC to evacuate survivors. The Black Hawk does not have anywhere near the fuel capacity for such a trip. And at its cruising speed, it would take a day to get there anyway.
Suggested correction: We don't know where the helicopters originated from. We only see the head of the NOAA hop in one down in Mexico, and then we cut to the fleet over NYC. He also is wearing heavier clothing for winter conditions so it's possible they originated from elsewhere.
Factual error: When the big wave comes, it's hitting New York harbor and the Statue of Liberty from the west. Possible I guess but unlikely due to the fact that the harbor just starts there; the west side of the harbor isn't the ocean side, it's New Jersey. Later, the people are standing in front of the library, which faces east and the wave is coming right at them. Then they show an overhead shot of the water overtaking the city and its coming from the south.
Suggested correction: The water is coming from the Atlantic. It probably already overcame parts of New Jersey and areas like Long Island and Brooklyn, but they just showed it entering the harbor. As far as it coming from the east, the water probably hit the island of Manhattan and the east river probably also started to rise which would eventually overtake the island as well coming towards the library from the east.
Continuity mistake: As the tidal wave is heading towards the library, the homeless man picks up his dog and runs towards the library. In the next shot his dog is still on the ground.
Continuity mistake: The image from the space station that is sent to Tamlyn has no vortex. However when she sees the images on her screen there is a vortex about 50 miles in diameter.
Revealing mistake: During the tornado scene there is a part where you see lots of cars on the highway flying and crashing and if you look carefully at the second car falling it doesn't touch the ground, yet it manages to cause sparks and dents.
Factual error: When we see a TV report saying how England is affected by the storm we see a shot of a street with hanging yellow traffic lights. England doesn't have yellow traffic lights, we have black ones. It's obviously footage of a storm in the United States.
Revealing mistake: In the scene where Dennis Quaid jumps over the ice crevasse to the other side, note the position of his ice axe, which is strapped to the right side of his hip. When he jumps back over with the metal tubes in his hands, he balances a little, then falls. We see his gloved hands disappear as he falls into the crevasse. The next shot shows he is holding onto the ice axe, which is embedded into the ice with his left hand. In reality he would not be able to unhook the ice axe so quickly and then put it in his left hand and thrust it into the ice. Remember what gravity does.
Factual error: Football matches shown on TV are never cut well into the 2nd half to be "welcomed back" at 63 mins. And no British commentator would say "Glasgow, Scotland"? In the UK we know Glasgow is in Scotland. He would say the stadium name - Celtic Park.
Other mistake: At the end of the movie, when they pan out to show the ice cover on the Earth reaching down almost to Mexico. Look closely. The Great Lakes are not frozen.
Factual error: When some people are burning books in the library, one man is adamantly protecting a Gutenberg Bible. Considering how rare and valuable Gutenberg Bibles are, it would not have been on the shelf or even readily accessible. Likely it would be locked in a safe or at least a showcase. Considering the shortage of time to collect fuel and the plethora of books available, I doubt they would break into a locked container to get another bit of fuel.
Suggested correction: According to Wikipedia, and other online sources, the Gutenberg Bible of the New York Public Library is publicly on display. It's shown in as being in a glass display case, there for anyone to see. There's no evidence that the book was taken for fuel. The first we see of it, it's being held by the person safeguarding it. It's possible they took it specifically to keep it safe. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutenberg_Bible.
Suggested correction: He was the head librarian, and as such would have access to the safe/showcase. And he would want to keep the Gutenberg as close as possible to protect it.
That man clutching the Gutenberg was NOT a librarian, much less a "head librarian." He was just one of the civilians who came into the library to escape the climate onslaught. He wouldn't have access to something as precious and priceless as the Gutenberg. Original flaw remains valid.
Factual error: When the students arrive in New York, you can see the luggage tag on Laura's bag. It lists JFK below DCA. This means the bag would have flown from somewhere to John F. Kennedy airport in New York, and then connected onto another flight going to Reagan National in Washington DC. Since New York is their final destination, JFK should have been the top airport code, even if they had connected through somewhere else.
Factual error: When Jack is showing Professor Rapson projections of the world, with the coloured storms, he first shows a quick picture of Europe. Greece is not visible on this map, you may have to look carefully.
Other mistake: A huge majority of the crew listed in the first half of the credits are French Canadians, their name spelled properly, accents and all. As seen in the UK, all the times "è" should have been written, it was replaced by a "Ø", for example HélØne and LafreniØre. Very noticeable when you know about it, and most probably caused by a sloppy conversion between two software, and no one proofchecking the credits before putting the movie out. Maybe fixed for home release.
Other mistake: At the end when Jack walks into the room where everyone is and shines his flashlight around, you see the nerd and the rich kid with the librarian in the background. Then you see a girl next to Sam's girlfriend. Where did she come from?
Suggested correction: She's the girl who was arguing with the man about which books could and couldn't be burned before the boy finds the section on law to burn.
Continuity mistake: When Sam and the others are walking in the rain toward the library, they are carrying backpacks or duffel bags, but when they reach the steps they are not carrying any extra baggage.
Suggested correction: The bags were slowing them down, so they probably just abandoned them in the street.
Other mistake: During the tornadoes in LA there is a large sign that slams into the news anchor. The speed and angle of the sign would throw the anchorman at least towards the van that it goes over. Even if his body did hit the ground with the sign flat on top of him, his body would have moved towards the van if not slid far beyond it.
Other mistake: Towards the beginning of the movie, one of the characters starts the ignition on his truck. If you look carefully, he turns the key the wrong way.
