So much for the summer of football! On the day the calendar tells us the season officially starts, Berlin looks set to suffer the coldest 1 June since records began ¨C and that is not to mention the rain.

Things are little better in other parts of the host nation. In the north (Hamburg, Hanover), you cannot see the sun for the clouds, and temperatures are refusing to rise above 16¡ãC. If you think it will be better down in the south, think again, because it is even colder! No thermometer has been above 13¡ãC for some time.

There is even the outlandish prospect of a 'white' FIFA World Cup?. Two days before the start of summer, the winter weather returned to Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg. The cold climes have even affected the preparations of the Togo national team, who recently arrived at their base camp in Wangen, Allgau.

Togo were restricted to training on an artificial pitch to avoid ruining the natural surface after showers of hail and snow!