There was a time when it snowed  in January, here are a couple of pics I took in Ely in 2003 to remind us. Yet today, it’s warm enough to have a barbie – well almost – with temperatures in double figures. I’ve posted a few more snow scenes at the top of this page for us to remember those good old days.

Do you mourn the passing of winters spent shivering, of ice-covered ponds and snowmen? Do you believe David Attenborough‘s gloomy prediction of blazing hot summers and monsoon winter rains and flooding by 2100 because of climate change?

Do you find Simon’s comment hard to believe that some children in Australia have never seen rain? “Many country towns in NSW have to TRUCK water in because dams are empty. Many children have NEVER seen rain!”

Geoff is this week having to travel to higher and higher attitudes during his snowboarding holiday in the French Alps to find enough snow. I imagine the winter sports industry is having a pretty dire year.

And so are fishermen in the Russian Federation, James notes, who are basking in unwanted springlike temperatures.

I remember an English friend living in California telling me that what she most missed about home was the changing seasons. Who would have thought the same would happen year a few years later.

If the Government, and Conservatives, are keen to embrace global warming, will they take into consideration the long term health implications too, a rise in skin cancer?

Have you missed your frosty winter this year? I certainly have, I still have several bags of coal lined up in my garage for freezing cold days. I so loved those lazy Sunday afternoons sprawled out in front of the fire with my newspapers and freshly cooked toast and crumpets. I also have a couple of sledges in the garage too, who know when they will get used again.