SIR – Mr Coote (Letters, February 15) is sadly misguided in his plea that there should be no more nonsense about climate change.

The IPCC, in the first part of its Fifth Assessment Report, states that ‘Warming of the climate system is unequivocal’. One of the few hard facts about climate change is the rise in sea level of around 3mm per year, due mainly to the thermal expansion from warming of the oceans and water from the melting of ice caps. Both are bad news and very difficult for climate change deniers to explain away.

A paper published by the Met Office on the pause in mean global temperature also concludes this is likely due to more of the heat gained by the earth being taken up by the oceans.

Warmer oceans mean more evaporation. What goes up must come down, and if you happen to be underneath when it does, you will get wet, perhaps very wet indeed.

Our wet winter may be the exceptional event. However, it is more difficult to explain also floods in Queensland, Pakistan, the Philippines etc. Or is it the case that if it happens at the other side of the world it does not count?

Ron Harding, Beck Houses, Bingley