Boris Johnson has joked that record temperatures in Westminster may have led to his ousting from Downing Street.
Appearing a crunch climate summit in Egypt, the ex-Prime Minister suggested that the summer heatwave may have contributed to the "unexpected political turmoil" which saw him kicked out of office.
“Climate change effects are all too real and visible even in the UK,” Mr Johnson told a New York Times COP27 event.
“Temperatures in London this July reached 40C, almost unbearable by UK standards.
"Perhaps even contributing, who knows, to unexpected political turmoil that we saw at Westminster at that time.”
A level three 'heat health alert' was issued for London about three weeks before Mr Johnson finally announced he would resign. However, the first red warning for extreme heat only came into effect on July 18 - 11 days after he said he would quit.
Mr Johnson returned to the political fray with a trip to COP27, following his aborted Tory leadership bid last month.
Branding himself the "spirit of Glasgow COP26", Mr Johnson took aim at Net Zero critics in his own party, who he accused of peddling “nonsense”.
He said he did not personally support paying reparations to the nations hit by Britain's historic contribution to climate change.
But he warned his fellow Tories against going soft on climate change targets and slammed those who want to “frack the hell out of the British countryside” - a clear swipe at his predecessor Liz Truss.
Mr Johnson said: "There are people who have drawn the conclusion that the whole project of net zero needs to be delayed, mothballed and put on ice - for instance we need to reopen coal-fired power stations and frack the hell out of the British countryside.
"I believe here at Sharm is a moment we really have to tackle this nonsense head on."
Ms Truss had planned to lift the ban on fracking in England during her doomed stint in No10 but new PM Rishi Sunak has reinstated it.
Mr Johnson claimed he wanted to play a "supportive" role to Rishi Sunak but made it clear he was determined to protect his legacy.
The new PM was initially set to snub the summit after suggesting he was too busy with domestic issues but then performed a screeching U-turn.
Mr Johnson said he was glad Mr Sunak was there, adding: "I'm a foot soldier, a spear carrier. I'm here in a purely supportive role and to remind the world what we did at Glasgow... The PM is here. I'm glad he is here. He made an outstanding speech the other day, he is on absolutely the right lines."
Downing Street said there were no plans for a meeting between Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak "but it may happen".
Asked if the PM agreed that Tory Net Zero sceptics were "peddling nonsense", the PM's official spokesman said: "I haven't got his reaction to that but certainly you've seen the PM's commitment to Net Zero, you've seen the PM reintroduce the moratorium on fracking and we have set out a very comprehensive package of support at this summit."
The spokesman said Mr Johnson's presence shows "how high up the agenda this is for the UK".
Speaking to The Sun on the flight out to Egypt, Mr Sunak said he hoped he would "bump into" Mr Johnson at some point.
"Isn't it great we have a PM and a former PM both at Cop? That says something special about our country," he said.
"Boris has been a stalwart champion of building a greener future, he deserves praise and credit for that, its great that he's there.
