WILL the Government be facing an inconvenient truth when it gets an answer from its chief adviser as to whether we can expect more harsh weather in this and winters to come?

Advice will be sought from climatologists, who should objectively assess the reasons for the sudden onset of very cold and snowy winter weather in our part of the world.

One factor which must be included is that the sun is at its quietest in almost a century. For the majority of the years 2008 and 2009 there were no sunspots despite the cyclic, low having been in 2006/7.

The concern among solar experts is that the sun could be entering a long phase of comparatively lower activity, similar to those which occurred between 1645 and 1715 (the Maunder minimum) and between 1796 and 1824 (the Dalton minimum).

Both of these periods were associated with more frequent harsh winters in Europe and North America and also problems with agriculture.

David Randon, Blue Slates Close, Wheldrake.