Thirty years ago Margaret Thatcher warned of man-made global warming - former Tory party leader MICHAEL HOWARD

Parched fields in East Anglia, moorland fires in Derbyshire, scorched parks across the nation, depleted reservoirs in the West Country, drying lakes in the North.

This blistering summer, during which we sweltered for weeks on end, reminded many of the great heatwave of 1976.

But there is a significant difference: this year's heat has not been limited to the United Kingdom.

In Sweden, forest fires blaze as far north as the Arctic Circle. Californian firefighters battle the biggest conflagration they have ever seen.

Japan has experienced its highest temperatures on record. So has Africa. Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, is entirely in drought.

It is hard to escape the conclusion that something unusual is disturbing our weather.

Natural variability will reinforce the long-term warming trend between the years of 2018 and 2022. This will lead to an increase in temperature extremes (stock)

Although we should not rush to assume it is man-made climate change, common sense demands that we ask the question.

Are the dramatic events unfolding around the world being shaped by the greenhouse gases that we are adding to the atmosphere, and which stop heat escaping from the Earth into space, as scientists have repeatedly warned would happen? And if these events are a manifestation of climate change, what does that imply for our future?