Andrew Neil, the wally with the brolly

Andrew Neil has been many things: a reporter, editor, broadcaster and founding chair of GB News. One area in which he has little expertise, though, is weather forecasting.

“All next week London temperatures won’t get above the late teens and it’s forecast to rain everyday,” he wrote on X on May 31.

Suggested Reading

The Rest is an Unlikely Aphrodisiac

Rats in a Sack

“It’s called the British Summer,” he chortled, adding an umbrella emoji. “But at least we can expect some respite from the London-based media’s climate hysteria.”

Not only has Brillo’s forecasting gone a little astray, he wasn’t even right at the time: in the week he wrote his post temperatures hit 35C – three degrees higher than the previous record – in what was still technically Spring.

Since then the UK has entered its fifth heatwave of the year, we’ve seen a high of 38C on June 26 in Norfolk, temperatures hit 35C in Wales and the Met Office warned this summer is on course to be the UK’s hottest since records began. The UK had already recorded more days above 30C by July 15 this year than it did in the whole of 1976 – a year that is remembered by many for its long-lasting heatwave.

Suggested Reading

Reform’s farmers are feeling the heat

Rats in a Sack

Still, perhaps things are better in France, where Neil resides most of the time? Not really – July was the hottest month in France since records began in 1900, according to French meteorologists. It was also France’s third-driest July, with rainfall nearly 70 percent below average.

On top of that, the London-based media are still keeping up their infernal climate hysteria – and Brillo’s brolly hasn’t been needed for about three months!