It may be freezing in the Alps at the moment as an anti-cyclone brings clear nights but that is nothing compared to freshly analysed data from NASA for August 2010 where a record breaking -94.

Don't sell your skis or your alpine chalet just yet, and hold off that summer cruise to Japan via the Northwest passage.

Environmentalists thought they'd won an important victory in their ten year battle with the ski resort of Ste Foy over the Vallon du Clou.