On a superficial level, providing an explanation for the cold weather across Europe is relatively straightforward.

But with global temperatures on the rise – the 20 warmest years in the last 110 have all occurred since 1987 and the last 11 years have featured in the top 12 years on record – surely this exceptionally cold (although not unprecedented) weather flies in the face of global warming?

But scientists at Germany’s Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research claim that warming of the Arctic Ocean and the subsequent melting of sea ice are, more likely than not,  responsible for the cold winter weather.

The demise of Arctic sea ice in recent years is beyond dispute:  in December 2011 the extent of sea ice was the third lowest on record since 1979 and some scientists claim that summer sea ice could disappear as early as 2015

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