Meteorologists we most definitely aren’t, so instead of swimming through oceans of facts and hopeful guesswork surrounding the supposed El Nino weather system that will ‘definitely’ guarantee amazing snowfall all through North America and Europe this year, we thought we’d take a good look at the homeopathic remedy of forecasting: the Farmers’ Almanac.

Yup, it’s the annual book from the publishers who “make no specific claims to the accuracy of forecasts” – promising longterm predictions based on a “top secret mathematical and astronomical formula, that relies on sunspot activity, tidal action, planetary position and many other factors.”

OK, so far so unbelievable, but we picked out a few of our favourite wives’ tales and myths that predict heavy winters. Let us know via hearsay if you come across any – then we’ll know that they’re definitely true!