Last January, Santa returned in the form of Gerald Fleming, the RTÉ weather forecaster, who advised that due to adverse weather conditions, schools should be closed for a number of days.

Unfortunately for the pupils, his doomsday prediction did not transpire and all returned to normal sooner than expected. Last week, the Met office rolled out Jean Byrne, who, in typical flying form, predicted that the tsunami was coming to the west, south and east coasts, so better to build the ark now.

Jean appeared on Monday night and we waited with bated breath for an explanation as to why the tsunami did not occur.

Remarkably, Jean didn't mention it at all and continued on with her normal glass-half-empty presentation. This was indeed a lesson in deception and perception for the aforementioned disappointed pupils.

John Burke

Clontarf

Dublin 3