Factual error: When the storm is breaking up over the United States and Houston asks if the ISS can confirm, the ISS is moving the wrong direction. The view of Italy shows the ISS moving from east to west when it actually orbits from west to east.
Other mistake: At the end of the film when they arrive in NYC looking for the library, we know that they survived because they are inside with a roaring fire burning. But where is the smoke up above, as Jack Hall approaches? There must be a chimney, or else they would have all died of asphyxiation.
Continuity mistake: When Jack is briefing the President, he draws a line on a map of the U.S. and tells the President to have everybody south of that line evacuated. The shape of the line changes three times between shots. (01:04:20)
Factual error: When Sam climbs outside the ship he grabs the frozen metallic pipes and rails with both hands - one half covered with a glove, one is bare. He has no problem gripping the cold metal and he can get his hands free every time. If the moisture froze before contact, his hands would be frozen too, so that can't be the reason.
Other mistake: None of the men in the movie grow any facial hair at all, even the ones stuck in the library in New York.
Suggested correction: The storm only lasts a few days to a week at most, which isn't too much time for a guy to grow facial hair.
Factual error: The aircraft flying to rescue the British Royal Family are described as belonging to "an RAF search and rescue squadron." However the middle aircraft has white and green striped camouflage painted on it, which is a pattern only used by aircraft in 845 Naval Air Squadron (a Royal Navy unit).
Factual error: The football (soccer in the U.S.) match we see relatively early on in the film is said to be between Manchester United and Celtic, in Glasgow. However, the non-MU team isn't wearing Celtic's home strip as they should be if playing in Glasgow (it's actually Boca Juniors from Argentina, in a match played in 2002) and the stadium shown is actually Old Trafford, Man. U's home ground, as shown by the advertising billboards in the background. (00:09:25)
Continuity mistake: Just before the huge wave hits the library, we see that Laura cuts her leg. She cuts it on the side of the top part of her leg. Later in the movie, when her trouser leg is pulled back to reveal the wound, it is now on the front of her lower leg. (00:47:50 - 01:30:15)
Continuity mistake: When the tidal wave is hitting Manhattan, and the camera cuts to Laura walking behind the black woman and the cop, the woman panics and turns to her left to look at Laura, but in the following closeup she turned to her right to look and talk to Laura. (00:47:50)
Visible crew/equipment: When Jack is in the library towards the end of the movie, he looks in a room and then the shot goes back to facing him. If you look very carefully, in the back of the hall you can see a person walk by. He is very hard to see. (01:49:05)
Suggested correction: You never see anyone walk by. It's only him and his friend Jason. It's also very dark in the hallways so may have been a shadow.
Factual error: When the International Space Station is shown, it's spinning. The space station doesn't spin. The centrifugal force would create gravity on all the outer sides of the space station - and make it impossible to dock other modules. (01:30:45)
Factual error: At the start, Jack jumps the break in the ice to go and pick up some ice core tubes. He lifts them way too easily, considering they are supposed to have ice cores in them.
Continuity mistake: The first time we see the black bear cage, the sign (and the entire shot) is a reversed image. Twenty five minutes later, we see the black bear cage again and the sign is correct. (00:20:35)
Revealing mistake: Very near the end of the movie, when the NOAA director is viewed in the helicopter as it approaches NYC, the image is reversed, verified by the David Clark logo on his headset being reversed. There are two different shots of this just a few seconds apart, and they are both reversed.
Revealing mistake: When a newscaster is mentioning that two airplanes were caught up in the storm and crashed, they show footage of the AVIANCA (Colombian airline) Flight number 52, which crashed in New York on January 25th, 1990. (00:30:00)
Continuity mistake: After Sam's phone call to his dad, when Jack holds his wife with both hands at her cheekbones the position of her hair changes from under his hands to over, between shots. (00:56:20)
Continuity mistake: When Sam and his two teammates are on their way to NYC for the competition, the airplane gets hit by turbulence. Two attendants go to the back of the aisle with the drink cart, when the plane starts to shake, and in the long shot of the aisle (from the head to the back) one of them is in front of the cart and the other one is behind. However, both are behind the cart in the close up, when they try to prevent the cart from hitting anybody.
Plot hole: When you see the shot of New York, just before the scene where the apartment lights go out, there are no lights on in the buildings, or car lights in the street, although it is dark. The lights should still be on as there has not been a power outage. (01:28:00)
Continuity mistake: When Jack is trekking north to Manhattan with two of his colleagues, one falls through a glass ceiling and the other cuts his right hand trying to save him. Despite the fact that we see his hand bleeding profusely, you can see in the subsequent scene that his right hand is just fine.
Factual error: NOAA headquarters is shown to be in downtown D.C, when in fact it is just outside of the District in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Suggested correction: As already corrected, just because we can't see an outlet for the smoke doesn't mean there isn't one. White smoke against white snow is very hard to see.
Nik Rolls
But they were still burning the books, which meant the smoke should be black, if they stop burning the books, the smoke would have been white, which isn't the case in the movie.
Just looked at a boatload of videos of burning books, including one in a fireplace, and the smoke was indeed white.