THE first hint of winter is sweeping Britain this weekend with an Arctic chill. In fact, the first snows settled on the Cairngorms eleven days ago, and Boscombe Down in Wiltshire had its coldest September night since 1931.

This is music to the ears of global warming sceptics, such as Philip Stott. He pointed out in The Times (September 26) that many places in the world have had unexpectedly cold weather this year. For example, the eastern US shivered in a chilly spring and early summer, Japan had an unseasonably cool summer, and Moscow was swept by snow in June.

Although Europe had its hottest summer in recorded history, Stott makes another telling point. “Relating climate change to just a few sets of weather events, whether floods, drought, heat or cold, is dangerous nonsense,” he argued.

Where Stott goes seriously wrong, however, is in ignoring how most of the world is growing relentlessly warmer over the decades. Of course, you will find a few regions of cold or a few years that buck this trend, but that is the nature of climate.

So in Britain, our winters are growing milder and summers hotter, but expect the odd maverick year when things turn cold.

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