Skeleton star Matt Weston moves into climate action: 'We are people who love nature trying to make a difference'

With the grass becoming dry and yellow in the summer heat, and our days getting shorter, winter feels very far away. This is true even for Matt Weston, Britain's most successful male Winter Olympian.

You probably remember him from the Milano Cortina games in February. He was seen speeding down the skeleton track in his special suit, and he broke the track record at the Cortina Sliding Centre four times to win Britain's first medal of the games. Two days later, he became the first British athlete to win more than one gold medal at a single Winter Olympics when he won the mixed team event with Tabitha Stoecker.

Since then, his life has changed in surprising ways. He says that skeleton is a very small sport and athletes don't usually get much media attention. So, after the Olympics, it was amazing to be recognised on the London Underground and to get messages from people on Instagram.

In early July, he spent a day in the royal box at Wimbledon with other famous athletes, which he described as a 'pinch-me moment'. This was followed by a day at Silverstone. Soon after that, he got married. The last six months have also involved an important decision. After seeing how the winter environment has changed, Weston decided to use his new fame to speak out and become a supporter for the organisation Protect our Winters (POW).

POW was started by professional snowboarder Jeremy Jones in 2007. He realised that the mountain areas where he loved to ski were beginning to disappear. His goal was to bring together everyone who enjoys outdoor activities – skiers, climbers, hikers, mountain bikers, paddleboarders, surfers, and more – to make a difference to the climate. The organisation's website says, 'We might be dirtbags, but we are dirtbags making a difference.'

Weston, who is now 29, was born near Tunbridge Wells in Kent, an area with beautiful countryside but no mountains. He says he is very fortunate to have so much natural beauty around him. He believes that growing up, walking the dog, playing sports, and generally being outdoors in nature had a big impact on him.

He was a sporty child and enjoyed football, rugby, and taekwondo. However, he got a stress fracture in his back. After he recovered, he went to a talent identification day for sports. There, he was chosen for the fast and dangerous sport of skeleton. He jokes that they must have looked at his results and thought he was a bit crazy.

Now, after 10 years of sliding down an ice track and spending half the year in very cold and beautiful places, he has had time to think. He remembers that when he first started skeleton training in St Moritz, the temperature was -27C. He adds that they have not experienced temperatures that cold for quite a long time.

He talks about the historical importance of the St Moritz track, which is the last natural ice track in the world. He notes that they are now discussing whether they need to use refrigeration to keep it icy, which he sees as a clear warning sign. Artificial tracks often use refrigeration, but when the outside temperature gets close to 10C, they cannot afford to run the refrigeration system. He explains that this means they are fighting a losing battle and have already missed days of pre-season training.

He explains that their sport is won or lost by hundredths of a second. When small pieces of frost appear on the ice track, they act like a brake as the athletes slide down. He compares it to leaving the door open on a freezer. He loves the fast tracks and the adrenaline, but he wants future athletes to be able to race. He finds it very sad if the changing environment stops them from doing so.

It's not just the ski tracks where things are changing. Snow, which used to be guaranteed in mountainous areas of Europe, is disappearing. The Alps are warming up twice as fast as the rest of the world. He mentions that the beautiful white snowy scenery is becoming rare. He finds it sad when he visits some places and the weather is more like a rainy British winter.

The serious danger to winter sports, and sometimes it feels to winter itself, can be overwhelming. For Weston, the best way to deal with this is to join POW. He says that sometimes thinking too much about it can be depressing. However, he also points out that there are things they can do, and many of Protect our Winters' messages focus on finding solutions.

POW UK focuses on encouraging the UK's outdoor community to take action. Their 'Clean Miles' campaign targets the carbon footprint created by travel in the outdoor sports industry. They are asking for more affordable, better-connected, and more reliable public transport, which also has space for sports equipment.

Weston explains that at the moment, he has to drive across Europe with his equipment because his sleds weigh about 30-40 kilos. When he is in the UK, training is easier to access by public transport. He lives in London and uses public transport all the time. He believes this shows that it is possible to have a society with great and efficient public transport.

In November, he will return to the World Cup circuit, but this time as a double Olympic champion and as someone who is speaking out about the winters that are melting away under his feet.