"Edmund Lewis" wrote in message
oups.com...
This change by which December is now colder than February (and about
the same as January) is most striking, for
a) It goes against everything the textbooks say regarding a maritime
climate, where the effect of sea temps should put off the coldest
weather after the solstice

The coldest period is still January, which is after the solstice.

and
b) It means that if we take the year as a whole, the temperature graph
is not symmetrical. By this I mean that the *same time-lag still occurs
in summer*, with August significantly warmer than June. So the warmest
and coldest periods (on average) are not 6 months apart. How could
sea-ice changes explain this?

It is partly due to the sea ice which has not melted by June, that makes
August warmer. The ice has a nonlinear effect because of its latent heat
and that can upset any symmetry.

We could well see a very warm July this year if the ice melts faster than
ususal, and it is not cloudy.

Cheers, Alastair.