Comment from front page

RAILWAY lines buckling, roads melting and Elgar's beloved Malvern Hills appearing more like Spain's Sierra Nevada rather than the green, pastoral romance of legend. Elsewhere, an athlete attempting to swim the length of the River Thames is obliged to run the first 20 miles because of a lack of water.

There's no doubt about it - British summers are changing and we'd better get used to the idea. Meanwhile, myriad statistics are being consulted and we are being informed on a daily basis about the latest record to have been melted away. Not so long ago, it was all so predictable. Britain experienced cold winters with snow and often woke up to ice on the inside of the bedroom window. At the opposite end of this weather spectrum lay blazing June followed by the dog days of August and those irritating little thunderbugs that seemed to find their way into every nook and cranny.

Now, we have a climate that imitates a tropical monsoon, with extreme heat followed by downpours that so often overwhelm our drainage systems.

Global warming or a manifestation of an ever-changing planet? The scientists are increasingly going for the former, and periodically issue dark warnings about what will happen to Mankind if we don't change our habits. The problem is that while many of us try to be as green as possible, America - and increasingly, China - are warming the world at an unprecedented rate.

Until these countries take action, the heat will go on. In the meantime, the rest of us might as well enjoy the sun. After all, it will soon be winter.