Met Office responds as conspiracy theorists claim UK government is making it rain
Social media users using June's strange weather to suggest that climate change is not real or that the government is influencing the level of rain.
The Met Office has issued a response after conspiracists online made wild claims that "weather manipulation" and "geoengineering" was behind June's rainy conditions.
Colder air from the Arctic led to temperatures well below the average for an ordinary June.
But the final week of last month eventually brought with it some better weather, although it was still cooler than average.
This has led to false statements online, with social media users using June's strange weather to suggest that climate change is not real.
Others have claimed the government is somehow controlling the weather.
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BBC Verify has found that the #GeoEngineering has been used more and more online with many users suggesting that a technique called cloud seeding has been deployed.
Cloud seeding is a technique through which tiny particles are released into existing clouds to produce rain or snow.
The government did fund cloud seeding in the 1950s, but the Met Office has said it is not aware of any current use.
Users have also discussed solar radiation management - a process through which some of the Sun's energy that reaches Earth is reflected back into space.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero says the UK government is “not deploying solar radiation management” and that it has “no plans to do so”.
Prof Liz Bentley, chief executive of the Royal Meteorological Society, told the BBC: “We work very closely with young scientists to encourage them to share their science with the public.
"But they are fearful of the trolling that might take place.”
Dr Ramit Debnath, an assistant professor at the University of Cambridge, who has done extensive research on these conspiracy theories, added: “A lot of funders are very sceptical of funding research.
“It’s this whole idea that someone is trying to control our natural resources, our environment - and that, through that intervention, we are trying to control or take away people’s freedom."
The Met Offce has been approached for comment.
