Professor Phil Jones, former director of the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia has denied reports that he had manipulated data.

He said his results "stands up to scrutiny".

Earlier, sceptics had claimed that the e-mails, which were leaked after university’s server was hacked, revealed that data was manipulated.

He said his 20-year-old study questioned by skeptics had been confirmed by more recent research.

Professor Phil Jones has also been facing criticism for reportedly withholding data from a sceptic Douglas Keenan.

He accepted that there should be more openness in the research work.

Speaking on the issue, he said, “We need to work differently, making more data available and making our assumptions clear.”

The University of East Anglia is also being accused of hiding data that should have been made public under Freedom of Information law.