Does solar activity affect the weather?

Well ... yes, the sun spot activity is in a 11 years period, as Jason writes. I know that, as a ham, I use the sun spot forecast to know if I can broadcast on the 80 and 40 meters bands to long distance, the ionosphere being a reflector. But if it was influencing the average temperature on earth, it must be written somewhere and, as a meteorology instructor to student aviators at my club, I have never heard of that!

There are many theories out there, one from a Dane called Svensmark, saying that cosmic radiation (not that of the sun!) is responsible for the nuclei condensation and, therefore the global temperature. But his findings are controversial.

Absolutely. dont listen to anyone who tells you otherwise...the sun goes through 11 year periods of hot and cold. as a result, the earth's temperature is greatly influenced

No

2001 had high amounts of solar activity and the weather was cold as sh*t