We're heading for the coldest winter since the early 1800s, according to a pensioner with an uncanny knack for predicting the weather.
Harry Kershaw, 85, correctly predicted the huge snowfalls and freezing temperatures that crippled the country last December and January.
Now the amateur forecaster, from Sale, says the coming weeks could see Britain gripped by a ‘mini Ice-Age’ last encountered 200 years ago.
Harry, who began his hobby as a merchant seaman, uses a system developed by the German army during the Second World War known as ‘similarity forecasting’.
He matches conditions with those of previous years and then predicts the future weather will follow a similar pattern – often with great accuracy.
In early 2007, his predictions of a miserable summer were at odds with official forecasts, but he was right. He also warned of wet weather in 2009 when the Met Office told the nation to prepare for a ‘barbecue summer’.
He has already predicted that this winter could be as cold as that of 1812-13 – when daytime temperatures reached no more than -9C and Napoleon was forced to retreat from Moscow during his attempt to seize the Russian capital.
Harry says the bitterly cold gusts that have blown into Greater Manchester from the Lancashire coast could signal that his winter forecast is accurate.
He said: "The higher the wind speed off Blackpool between the December 2 and 16, the colder the winter. The lower the wind speed, the milder the winter. This isn’t a meteorological rule, but I’ve observed it since 1962 and it seems to be very reliable. It looks as if we could be set for a white Christmas with cold easterly winds direct from Russia."
Harry says Europe could be in the middle of a ‘mini ice-age’ similar to the one in the four years from 1812 to 1815.
The number of spots on the sun, thought to affect the weather, has been the same in the last two years as in 1812 and 1813. And North Pole barometer readings in August suggested Europe will experience a repeat of last winter, Harry said.
He added: "It looks like we could be on the same weather cycle that occurred before Napoleon’s retreat."
Blackpool was battered by winds of up to 55mph this week.
The Met Office is warning that more winter storms could batter the region in the coming days as a chain of low pressure systems cross the Atlantic.
Met Office spokesman Dan Williams said: "We’re advising people to say up to date with the latest forecast and weather warnings because conditions are changing very quickly."
Manchester Evening News
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