Chiller!

The British Met Office is predicting a brutal cold spell in Britain for the New Year. Many areas will be at sub-zero temperatures and much of the country will be blanketed in snow.

Wrap up warm, the January shivers are on their way.

By the end of the week temperatures in many places will be below zero and large areas will be covered in a blanket of snow, forecasters warned yesterday.

Robin Downton, of the Met Office, said: "The weather is going to turn really cold during Wednesday and by Thursday it will feel jolly cold throughout the whole of the country apart from the very far West and South West.

"There could well be snow in the East and North of England and eastern Scotland. There is a significant risk of a covering of snow.

"Thursday daytime temperatures will only be a degree or so above zero and it could be just below zero overnight.

"Going into Thursday and Friday, there could be snow in areas further west, including the Midlands, on higher ground."

The comments are hysterical. A lot of sniping at global warming and the occasional true believer popping in. Including the folks from Australia who say they are having a heat wave - who appear to have forgotten completely that Australia suffered the coldest June since 1950 this year. Or that waiting for a Harry Potter book in bitterly cold Canberra in July could cause hypothermia. Not to mention the fact that there is snow cover reaching all the way to the Mediterranean this year.