Some scientists say man-made global warming is responsible for last week's downpours.
Others pin the blame on nature's own long-term cycles. The questions were of such pressing concern that the poor amateur meteorologist carefully carved them on a lead tablet - and then deposited it at a Roman oracle 2,400 years ago. The answer, unfortunately, is not recorded. Only the tablet has been recovered. Yet the questions it posed are intriguing - for they suggest that humans have always thought the weather is odd, and that we tend to blame its quirks on our own behaviour.