While most of the population lapped up the sunshine and cloudless skies that dominated the weather pattern in recent weeks, farmers were getting twitchy about the absence of rain.

Spring crops refused to flourish in the parched soil as weather forecasters got increasingly excitable by the unseasonal weather pattern.

It got me thinking about the disagreements that would ensue if man could tame the heavens. Sporting fixtures and tourism would want dawn to dusk sunshine, while farmers and gardeners would want a bit of everything. But even farmers would be divided. After the first cut of silage in May a drop of rain is always welcome, but that’s when the potato farmers rely on dry conditions for harvesting.

We build dams and irrigate, and have recently developed techniques for anchoring topsoil to push back the desert, so wouldn’t weather control be a natural progression if done sensibly?

I was surprised to learn that it is already being executed to a certain degree. Last year a scientist at the University of Geneva used a high-powered laser to simulate rain cloud formations.

If this technology is developed further it could have huge implications. Controlling the weather is such a potentially dangerous technology that the United Nations banned its use before the relevant technology even existed. Man wasn’t meant to control the weather.

Though the sort of weather warfare that may have seemed plausible back then will probably never be possible, there are still dangers to even modest weather manipulation. When weather patterns are altered to suit one area or population, there will likely be adverse effects for someone else.

Some will argue that controlling the weather in order to avoid droughts or tame hurricanes can only be progress. But every action has an equal and opposite response, nature will not tolerate an imbalance.

I love the variation of the seasons, but if I could have my way there would be longer springs and autumns. Oh, and I absolutely loathe wind so there would be none of that, just a cooling breeze when the temperature climbs.