Rohan,

It's a bit more abstract than that, but yes.

Jason, Menomonie, WI

From a purely physical point of view, considering the laws of thermodynamics and that the climate system is totally chaotic, it is amazing how anyone dare to say they can predict the weather with any accuracy beyond 3 days -not to mention the absolute madness of claiming they know what will happen 50 years in the future.

With today's computer power it is much more easier to predict the numbers of the Lottery than next year's climate. But if past solar and climate patterns serve as a hint, then we are surely be seeing a cooler climate in the near future. This longer than usual solar cycle (similar to solar cycle 4) indicates Earth is going into a strong cold climate as during the Dalton solar minimum.

This extremely cold summer, fall and winter seen in the Southern Hemisphere was predicted back in 2003 by astrophysicists, and they have been 100% accurate.

Eduardo Ferreyra, Cordoba, Argentina

Long range forecasts can be a bit of a gamble to say the least! In the UK we just have to apply some common sense based on law of averages. I am surprised at people's "surprise" that the UK summer 2007 has not produced a heat-wave ... yet. What did people expect when we had an exceptionally warm and dry April? parts of May and the start of June were good too. So we had an early start to the summer and now it's payback time because the weather always averages out in the long-run. So now we are getting an average/poor summer . But don't be surprised if come August/Sept we get a nice long spell of pleasant late summer warm weather, or an exceptionally dry and mild early autumn, which would average ot the so far poor mid-summer. Do we really need to spend all that time and money on long range weather forecasts?

Max, Manchester, UK

Weather for next winter......anybody's guess!

Judy , Liverpool, england

Long term climate change doesn't need predicting. It's already occurred . Predicting what happens next is more difficult. It depends on knowing what the drivers for the past change were (increased/decreased solar activity, greenhouse gas emisions, changing ocean currents, random fluctuations etc). When an individual or group plugs a certain driver for noted changes, they should have to declare their vested interests. For example, our friends in the US might care to declare their interest in continuing to be the world's biggest polluter per capita (25% of Greenhouse gases for 4% of the world's population). This vested interest is well known, which is why the US global warming sceptics are routinely ignored.

Jason, London,

The interesting point is that it demonstrates that the current climate change modelling predictions are simply very generalised. The weather, which is what we actually experience, will continue to be highly variable. If we could solve the complexity of the drivers for the coupled ocean atmospheric systems, then our predictions would improve. At present we clearly can't.

Dr David Jenkins, Weybridge, UK

N.B. -- It's not called 'Global Warming' anymore, because...well, it's not getting any warmer. AlGore is now calling it 'Global Climate Change', because...well, it's changing all the time.

Believe AlGore!!!

Robert, Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.

I predict that next winter there will be weather.

Bruce Northwood, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C

The tea leaves, chicken entrails and sea weed must be worn out. Here we are in the middle of the "hot dry, drought ridden" summer forecast back in April and we are supposed to believe the next winter prediction. Weather forecasting has got better but only for 24 to 48 hours, they do need to give up on the long term guess.

mike gee, bournemouth, uk

I bought a yacht earlier in the year and consequently I've been paying very careful attention to weather forecasts from the Met office - basically, they're bunk! Check the forecast for tomorrow in the morning and it will be one thing, check in the afternoon and it will be something else, and when tomorrow arrives, the weather is a third unpredicted thing entirely. This has been a consistent pattern about 2/3rds of the time since April. They just make it up! Sack the lot of them and just guess that tomorrow's weather will be like today's and you'll more than likely be right. As for this winter's weather; it will be a surprise, won't it? There's certainly no way the muppets at the Met office could predict it.

Michael, Brighton, England

Last year we were told to expect hot dry Mediterranean like summers in the UK due to global warming. So where is it?

Frank, Winchester,

In response to "Not chicken Little": There's a word for those who promote the theory of man-caused global warming - scientists! There's also a word for those who are prepared to gamble the future of all our children on the premise that they are totally mistaken - fools. Get your head out of the sand!

Not An Ostrich

David Morrell, Towcester, England

Are there people in the USA who deliberately go around hunting news stories with a potential for plugging their climate-sceptic line, and then make posts on such stories?
Just wondered ... not sceptic or anything ... mind ...

Rohan, Solihull,

"It will be warmer and wetter than usual, but colder and drier than last year, and but for global warming it would be colder than usual too."
So, predicting temperatures for next winter "stretches meteorology to its limits", but the science is certain and the debate is over about global temps in 100 years?
As you Brits would say, "What rubbish!"

Carl Loucks, Albuquerque, NM, USA

"This makes for surprisingly good forecasts..."

What a load of crap! Why weren't the weather guessers able to predict what actually happened, then?

There's a word for those who put their faith in man-caused "global warming" and all the unsupportable predictions we've been bombarded with - fools!

Not Chicken Little, Memphis, TN, USA