They are based on the "North Atlantic oscillation", a measure of sea temperatures which normally correlate with weather patterns. At present the readings suggest there will be much less westerly wind, which brings milder air from the Atlantic. "We are looking at a pattern that will give us much more of a Continental-type flow, with weather coming in from the east," Mr McCallum said. "We have to be careful not to be too dramatic, 62-63 was a particularly cold winter. We are probably looking at winters going back to 95-96 which was colder.
"We have had a pattern of very, very mild winters over the last few years so this will come as a shock.". They were brutally disciplined, under-nourished and the envy of Europe. This week, 200 years after their historic battle, Admiral Horatio Nelson and his heroic crews will be celebrated across the country for pulling off England's most significant naval victory. Inspired by Nelson's famous last order to the fleet that "England expects that every man will do his duty," the men were true to their leader's word.A few hours later, Nelson lay dying on the deck of his flagship, the Victory, knowing that the defeat of the combined French and the Spanish fleet was within his grasp.England had been spared the invasion by Napoleon's French army. However, the great victory at Cape Trafalgar off the west coast of Spain was owed in large part to a forgotten foreign legion of sailors. More than a third of the crew of the Victory were drawn from outside England, including the West Indies, Africa, France and Spain.The crews on board the English fleet were renowned for their toughness. Public floggings were frequent, there was a lack of drinking water, food was in short supply and scurvy was common. They were also the best-drilled and most disciplined force on the seas.Many of the foreigners on board may have been press-ganged, the hated system of recruitment that was still rife in the Royal Navy, which was always short of sailors to man the so-called "wooden walls" of England.Little is known about the foreigners who made up nearly a third of Nelson's flagship, and the many more who served on the other men of war in Nelson's fleet that day.Malcolm Godfrey, 50, a retired naval officer, who has researched the black sailors who served alongside England's most famous naval hero, said some may have been recruited while Nelson's fleet chased the French fleet in the Caribbean."The problem is that the records at the time show the country where they joined ship, but not their ethnicity," said Mr Godfrey, who runs an event company in Greenwich, home of the National Maritime Museum and the former RN College, now a university, where Nelson's body was taken before his state funeral."In the run-up to the battle of Trafalgar," said Mr Godfrey, "they chased the French fleet to the Caribbean.
The Navy brought in people from the Caribbean because they were used to the climate. They could have pressed men as they pursued the French."They also released men from slavery and they were freed to join the Navy. A lot of those listed on board as Americans could possibly have been black slaves who were freed.''The black sailors were such an integral part of the Royal Navy that a black figure is given a key role in the painting of the death of Nelson by Daniel Maclise which is in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, with a copy on the wall of the Royal Gallery in the House of Lords. The sailor, flanked by two redcoats, is pictured in the centre of the canvas, standing over the dying Nelson, and he is pointing up at the rigging, probably at the sniper who fired the fatal ball that had penetrated Lord Nelson's spine.An almost identical black figure was also carved later on the plinth on the south side of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. The man is unidentified, but may be one of the nine West Indians who were listed on board the Victory at the battle.
