Record global high temperatures are predicted for 2015, but not for Huddersfield - which has been colder than usual.

Statistics are expected to show that while the rest of the world has sweltered this year, figures for Huddersfield will show a drop of 0.2 degrees.

This may not seem a lot, but Salendine Nook weatherman Paul Stevens has described it as “significant.”

He claims it is due to a number of complex meteorological factors - and worse is yet to come.

Paul is predicting an unsettled winter for Huddersfield, with snow falling as low at 700ft - or around Huddersfield Royal Infirmary - rather than just on the higher hills.

He said: “It is a complicated picture this year.

“Winter will be unsettled, stormy at times, with rainfall above normal and it will be colder than the last two winters in Huddersfield.

“Temperatures will be around normal or slightly below, but because the North Atlantic is getting colder, we can expect sleet and snow lower than usual, down to around 700ft.

“We can also expect one or two outbreaks of easterly or northeasterly winds bringing heavy snow showers from western Russia.

“Overall, I don’t think the winter will be as bad as 2010/11, but at the end of it I think we will say: ‘That was a cold winter’.”

A number of factors are working together to keep the temperatures and sunshine at bay in Huddersfield.

Britain is kept artificially warm for its latitude by the Gulf Stream - London is as far north as Newfoundland, which has icebergs.

Heavy, salty sea water in the Arctic sinks, which pulls in the warm water of the Gulf Stream from Florida, via western Britain.

However, there is currently more freshwater melt from the glaciers diluting the salt, so the icy water doesn’t sink. Water temperatures in the North Atlantic have fallen by one to two degrees, and the summer’s prevailing westerly winds over the town have cooled.

Paul added: “The other big factor is the Pacific El Niño, which is driving up global temperatures.

“This can pull the jet stream south over the Pacific and UK, bringing the increased chance of easterly winds from western Russia reaching Huddersfield - something that hasn’t happened for more than two winters.

“This weekend and into next week we will already see our first easterly set up. Luckily it will not be bitterly cold, but warmer than normal due to the near continent still being very warm after the long summer.”