Britain’s leading polar explorers – including a Bradford woman – fly to Canada tomorrow for the first leg of the Catlin Arctic Survey.

Explorers Pen Hadow, Ann Daniels and Martin Hadley will record the depth of the shrinking Arctic ice cap, providing conclusive evidence of the damage global warming has caused the planet.

They are expected to spend the next two weeks acclimatising to the punishing conditions they are likely to face on the epic trek.

In front of more than 100 guests at the team’s London headquarters, Pen said the ground-breaking environmental expedition could never have made it to the start line without an astonishing amount of goodwill.

He said: “Goodwill has been just as important as money. There’s been a bank of goodwill and without it we just wouldn’t be going to the North Pole.

“Everybody has played their part and if you take out anyone the whole project wouldn’t have worked.”

The team of three, given royal support at a reception with Prince Charles last week, has now left for Canada and will begin the expedition in less than two weeks.

An ice-penetrating radar will take continuous measurements of the ice and snow thickness as the team brave temperatures of -60C along the 1,200km route to the Pole.

Cutting-edge satellite equipment will allow the team to stream the results directly back to London.

Pen said: “The Arctic sea ice will no longer be a permanent fixture of our planet and some scientists, the US navy in fact, is saying it could be gone in just four years.

“It used to be me against the Arctic – could I beat it? But my whole relationship with it has changed and I’m passionate about what’s going on up there.”

According to navigator Ann, who is originally from Bradford, the expedition is fraught with danger.

She said: “We’ve been preparing for two years and I’ve been training to the n-th degree.

“We’ve been working on the science – how to collect the data – and the practical side – how to survive.

“The biggest challenge will be overcoming the sheer amount of water.

“There’s less and less ice every year. We’ll be forced to cross water on skis and even swim some of the way.”