Met Office knew big freeze was coming but hushed it up

Daily Mail
"But we weren’t let in on the secret because the Met Office no longer publishes its seasonal forecasts due to the ridicule it suffered for predicting a barbecue summer in 2009.‘It did forecast in November that December would be bitter, but many of us may have taken the prediction with a truckload of salt.’

Last night the Met Office confirmed it had passed on the advice, but a spokesman denied that withholding it from the public was motivated by embarrassment.‘We did brief the Cabinet Office in October on what we believed would be an
exceptionally cold and long winter,’ she said. "

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Blowing hot and cold: Embarrassed weathermen should have warned about big freeze