Tonight after repeating the UN boss António Guterres’s belief that everyone, everywhere all at once is now boiling hot, TV1 news presenter Simon Dallow crossed to a reporter in Wellington: “what’s it like there?” The reporter reminded him it is the middle of winter (the temperature at the time was 9C). but despite that, “we’re going to have the hottest year ever.” Hmm.

Then there was a claim that Antarctic ice has suddenly become dramatically thinner, accompanied by pictures clearly taken in high summer — at the moment it’s mid-winter and completely dark all the time. Hmm.

Here are some of the actual maximum temperatures recorded yesterday around Europe:

Dublin: — 21C

London: — 23C

Paris: — 25C

Brussels: — 23C

Berlin: — 23C

Copenhagen: — 22C

Warsaw: — 21C

Minsk: — 22C

Vilnius: — 23C

Moscow: — 24C

Kiev: — 24C

Prague: –24C

Geneva: — 29C

Vienna: — 29C

Barcelona: — 30C

Lisbon: — 28C

Rome: — 32C

Palermo: — 33C

Athens: — 33C

None of those temperatures deserve António Guterres’s alarmist description; in fact they all look pretty normal for European summer.

Hmm.

Some of America — but far from all of it — has been experiencing a heat wave this month, mainly the the U.S. Southwest as yet another heat dome entrenches itself over the southern tier of the country and Mexico. Whether this is abberant or part of a trend, including super cold winters, is too early to draw any conclusions on, but the higher temperatures are only 1 or 2 degs Celcius above what is typical. Hmm.