'Coldest winter' reports called speculative

GENEVA. October 21. KAZINFORM The World Meteorological Organization (WMO)said Tuesday recent reports forecasting the 2010 winter to be the coldest in Europe in 1,000 years are "speculative" and "not backed up by authoritative and robust scientific evidence"; Kazinform refers to China Daily.

When asked about the reports, the WMO told Xinhua, "At present, the available operational long-range forecasts do not indicate a particularly severe winter in Europe."

According to WMO, the Organization is working in collaboration with National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and other partners to develop and improve operational climate predictions, notably through the establishment of Global Producing Centers of Long Range Forecasts, and Regional Climate Centers, to provide probabilistic long range forecasts which can be helpful for decision-making; Kazinform cites China Daily.

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