The weather has been a little odd for a while now.

It has perhaps taken us longer in Britain to notice the fact because we expect odd weather at the best of times.

Last year was the hottest since 1659 and the fourth wettest since 1910. If someone could work out how to have the rain at the same time as the temperatures hit 80°F we could all take showers outside and save water rates.

The serious side is that the odd weather reflects what scientists have been saying for years – that our climate is being affected by global warming.

This, of course, remains the subject of an ongoing debate between, on the one hand, genuine sceptics and straight-out deniers such as the fossil fuel lobby and American big business and, on the other hand, the world’s scientists.

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, compiled by hundreds of climate scientists working from thousands of scientific papers, found that 97% of leading scientists believe the atmosphere is warming and that humans are the main cause of the temperature increase.

Still, what does it matter what science thinks? Big business will continue with their strategy of denial and obfuscation.

Remember when the tobacco companies denied smoking caused cancer?

So with the possibility of Earth developing a climate that will eventually be inhospitable to humans, I was heartened with the news that Nasa’s Kepler space telescope has found another eight planets that could hold water and life, making a total of more than 1,000. Kepler 186f was said to be close to Earth standards.

Now one of the new ones – Kepler 438b – is said to be an even better bet for another Eden. Hopefully, by the time our weather sorts itself into a pattern of searing heat followed by tsunami floods where only Pennine towns are safe from coastal erosion we might have the technology to build rocket ships to take mankind there and give it a new start without oil, coal, cigarettes or hairspray.

But you know what? Give the settlers a few aeons and I bet they’ll be able to ruin that planet too with war, famine, political, racial and religious strife. Plus pollution.

Which will lead a future Prime minister to say: “Now then, where did you say Kepler 186f was?”