US and Canada at loggerheads after groundhogs disagree on weather forecast

After a year dominated by American talk of making Canada the ’51st state’, even their respective weather-predicting groundhogs couldn’t woodchuck their differences aside.

On Groundhog Day, 2 February, Philadelphia’s Punxsutawney Phil and Ontario’s Wierton Willie gave competing weather forecasts. While the Canadian woodchuck said spring was round the corner, the US hog told a crowd of thousands they’d be in for another six weeks of winter.

We’ve been here before: the two oracles disagreed on last year’s Groundhog Day, too.

But both groundhogs can agree on one thing – getting their forecasts wrong. Phil has a success rate of just 35%, while Willie is even worse, at just 29%.