Daffodils in bloom, the warmest ever December: how worrying is the world’s strange weather?

While record-breaking temperatures are blamed on the global effects of climate change, naturally warming waters in the Pacific are adding to the effect

December temperatures in London have been warmer than July's. Scotland is balmier than Barcelona. Artificial snow covers European ski slopes. Africa faces its worst food crisis in a generation as floods and droughts strike vulnerable countries.

With unusual weather from Britain to Australia, scientists are blaming climate change - but also the natural phenomenon called El Nino, which is raising temperatures and disrupting weather patterns. A double whammy then, but how disturbed should we be as the records tumble?