Prof Sir John Beddington said there was a "need for urgency" in tackling climate change.

BBC: Science correspondent, BBC News

In response the government's chief scientific adviser, Professor John Beddington, said mental capital could be likened to a bank account of the mind.

BBC: Skills drive risks mental health

Mr Hammond said the government's chief scientific adviser Professor Sir John Beddington will be working with transport operators to see what can be done to alleviate severe winters.

BBC: Labour: Ministers 'woefully ill-prepared' for snow

The man he is replacing - Sir John Beddington - had to provide advice on Japan's Fukushima nuclear accident, Iceland's volcanic ash eruption and the spread of Ash dieback.

BBC: The man who gives away ?600m a year

The UK government's Chief Scientific Adviser Sir John Beddington, meanwhile, has had to revise his previously optimistic assessment to include the "worst case scenario" of radiation reaching Tokyo, albeit at a level which could be protected against.

BBC: Japan nuclear threat: The tsunami is the bigger tragedy

White House Science Advisor John Holdren and Sir John Beddington, Science Advisor to British Prime Minister David Cameron, in a recent joint article "Celestial Storm Warnings" published in the New York Times, warned that a solar flare from the Sun could cause a great geomagnetic storm, with catastrophic consequences for the United States and the world.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Nuclear storm warnings?