Britain's approvals for two vast North Sea oil and gas fields were overturned by a Scottish court on Thursday, in a significant win for environmental campaigners which casts doubt on the future of new fossil fuel projects in the UK.

The ruling permits Shell and Equinor to proceed with work on their respective projects, but extraction is on hold pending approval reassessment.

Britain’s two biggest offshore oil and gas developments have been blocked from producing any fossil fuels after a judge quashed their production permits in a row over greenhouse gas emissions.

A judge has ruled that private interests and climate change considerations should have been considered when the U.K. government approved the Rosebank oilfield.

The development of two major oil and gasfields in the North Sea must be halted after a landmark court case ruled in favour of environmentalists. The Scottish Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled the approval to develop the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields,