Donald Trump has claimed the east coast of the US "could use a little bit of that global warming" to combat freezing conditions set to grip the region this weekend.
Amid bitterly cold temperatures in New York and other parts of the country, the US President urged Americans to "bundle up" as he suggested warnings over global warming were overblown.
Mr Trump tweeted: "In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year's Eve on record.
"Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against."
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In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2017
Mr Trump has repeatedly expressed scepticism about climate change, which is based on long-term studies of weather patterns rather than atmospheric conditions over a shorter period.
His latest tweet includes a swipe at the landmark Paris climate change accord, which he announced the US would be pulling out of earlier this yearbecause it represented a "bad deal" for America.
Mr Trump has previously described climate change as a "hoax" created by the Chinese to damage American industry.
Under his predecessor Barack Obama, the US had committed to reducing its emissions by between 26% and 28% from 2005 levels by 2025.
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Despite the extremely wintry forecast for the final weekend of the year – with temperatures falling to -40C in Cotton, Minnesota – the UN's weather and climate agency says 2017 is on track to become the hottest year on record overall.
The US continues to account for a huge proportion of the worldwide total of greenhouse gas emissions, with only China exceeding it.
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Sky News
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