As weather forecasts for this summer are terrible, without even one rain-free day for the entire UK, MyHealthPortal takes a look at the history of the northern hemisphere to see there is any consolation in climate changes from the past:

• The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of cooling that occurred after a warmer era known as the medieval warm period that lasted approximately from the 16^th to mid-19^th century. The Little Ice Age brought bitterly cold winters to many parts of the world, but is most thoroughly documented in Europe and North America. In Britain- The River Thames and the canals often froze over during the winter, and people skated and even held frost fairs on the ice. The first Thames freeze was in 1607 and the last in 1814. Many springs and summers were outstandingly cold and wet, and although there was great variability between years and groups of years, crop practices throughout Europe had to be altered to adapt to the shortened, less reliable growing season.
  
  
• It is said that many winter paintings, occuring almost entirely from 1565 to 1665, were associated with the climatic decline. An excelent example is the famous winter paintings by Pieter Brueghel the Elder (e.g. Hunters in the Snow) all appear to have been painted in 1565.
  
  
• Beginning around 1850, the world's climate began warming again and the Little Ice Age may be said to have come to an end at that time. Some global warming critics believe that the Earth's climate is still recovering from the Little Ice Age and that human activity is not the decisive factor in present temperature trends.
  
  
• In 1816 Northern Europe and Northeast America experienced yet another frosty condition called the Year without a Summer, or also known as the Poverty Year. May and June of 1816 were marked by snow storms; whereas July and August this year brought extreme temperature swings- from above normal temperatures of 35°C to near freezing within hours.
  
  
• These summer frosts killed off most of the crops that had been planted and resulted in many human deaths. Food riots broke out in Britain and France and grain warehouses were looted. But, these hard times did not go unrewarded, as several inventions were made during the season of frost, such as the bicycle. The German inventor Karl Drais invented the modern Bicycle, since he was short on grain to feed horses.
  
  
• Although global warming is a major environmental and health concern these days, one must remember that until the 1980s people raised concerns mainly over global cooling. In the 1970s, there was increasing awareness that estimated global temperatures had been cooling since 1945. A history of the discovery of global warming states that: “While neither scientists nor the public could be sure in the 1970s whether the world was warming or cooling, people were increasingly inclined to believe that global climate was on the move, and in no small way”.
  
  
• Climate concerns remain a top subject also for the film industry, with the 2004 disaster film The Day After Tomorrow depicting a scientifically implausible assortment of climate disasters caused by global warming, including sudden freezing.
  

MyHealthPortal says it is safe to say that there have been times of huge climactic change in the past. And who knows, maybe the fact that we are all spending more time indoors will bring great innovations to Great Britain. But its more likely that we will all just spend more money down the pub!