January 13, 2012 | Priya

Britain’s weather has been mild recently, but a new study reminds me how last year’s winter was freezing cold.

The study links the amount of snow cover in places such as Siberia to colder winters in the UK – and even as far away as the Pacific. When people talk about ‘global warming’ they ignore the fact that some of the changes can go the other way too.

So how direct is the link between snow cover further north and British wintry weather? We still need more research to find the answers, but the work could lead to better winter weather forecasts.