From a Brexit-crash to Trump's re-election: Nostradamus' predictions for 2020 weren't great.

Way back in the 1550s there lived a chap by the name of Michel de Nostredame, or Nostradamus as he’s more commonly known.

A French astrologer and seer, Nostradamus was highly-acclaimed for his clairvoyant abilities. Even Catherine de’ Medici, the wife of King Henry II of France, was a fan.

His most notable work, however, was The Prophecies – a book containing 942 poetic quatrains which allegedly predicted the future.

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Nearly 500 years later, people are still obsessed with his predictions, claiming they foreshadowed historical events like the rise of Hitler, the atomic bomb and even the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

With the new year just around the corner, we take a look at what Nostradamus had to say about 2020. But be warned… his predictions are not exactly cheery.

What are Nostradamus’ predictions for 2020?

Brexit will lead to some truly awful things.

“Near a great bridge near a spacious plain
the great lion with the Imperial forces
will cause a falling outside the austere city.
Through fear the gates will be unlocked for him.”

Some followers have interpreted this quatrain to refer to Brexit, in which the UK will leave the European Union. Currently planned for January 31, 2020, Nostradamus 2020 states this could trigger “economic collapse” due to dissent from Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, who don’t agree with the removal policy.

Dammit, Boris Johnson.

An assassination attempt will be made on Donald Trump after he wins a second term.

Speaking to Express, psychic expert, Craig Hamilton-Parker of Psychics.co.uk said described what will be a particularly dramatic year for the US president.

"I feel Trump will have a second term but Nostradamus's predicted an assassination attempt will be in the second term."

The psychic also predicted that Trump will "work out a deal or treaty" with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The next World War could be closer than we think.

The publication also hints at mass upheaval on a global stage, something they say Nostradamus directly references in his writings.

In one quatrain, the seer stated there will be “seven and fifty [57] peaceful years” between WWII and WWIII, but judging by this time line, WWIII should have started in 2002, not 18 years later in 2020.

Still Hamilton-Parker told Express that “Nostradamus also predicted a war in the Middle East".

“I feel that we will get the first rumbles of this in 2019 but it will not be full out war."

Given continual upheaval in Iraq, Iran, Syria and Yemen, maybe he was onto something?

Writing about a "third big war," many have also attributed the following quatrain as a predictor of global unrest. In this case, the line, "the great leader will succumb," could be referring to the fall of the US as a dominant superpower

“In the city of God, there will be a great thunder.
Two brothers torn apart by Chaos while the fortress endures.
The great leader will succumb.
The third big war will begin when the big city is burning.”

A devastating earthquake.

We've even got a date for this one, according to Nostradamus 2020.

"Nostradamus foretold a great earthquake in 2020, in America. In the New World (the West Lands), California seems to be the logical guess," they write.

"This will happen next time Mercury is retrograde in Cancer (between June 18 and July 12)."

Apparently this mega-quake could sink the entire state of California and even modify the world map as we know it.

via GIPHY

If all this talk of impending world wars, economic collapse and general doom and gloom is deflating your New Year's Eve spirit, consider this.

Writing for the ABC in 1999, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki said there's one "common factor" that links all Nostradamus supporters and he's got a point.

"They're very good at predicting an event after it has happened.

"Not one single person was able to reinterpret the vague quatrains of M. Nostradamus to tell us that Princess Diana would die in a Paris car crash, or that France would win the World Cup. But I bet you a dollar that now that these events have already happened, people will see them clearly in the writings of Nostradamus."

And it's difficult to argue with that logic.

Feature image: Netflix.

Do you believe in Nostradamus' predictions? Tell us in a comment below.