Leading article: Mixed fortunes

Never mind Derren Brown and his magical lottery predictions. Consider instead the clairvoyant Sarah Montague. The Today presenter found herself without her notes when she was due to read out the day's weather forecast live on Radio 4 yesterday morning.

After a moment's uncomfortable dead air, Ms Montague bravely took a punt: "It is going to be a mixed picture I suppose, as usual at this time of year, across the country."

Not long after, a BBC weatherman came on to the programme to give the real meteorological outlook. The summary? You've guessed it: mixed.

Mark Twain once observed that, while everyone complains about the weather, no one ever does anything about it. He'd obviously never come across the quick-thinking Ms Montague.

Now all she needs to do to maintain her 100 per cent successful forecasting record is avoid, at all costs, any mention of barbecue summers.