  We present results of simulations of the climate of the newly discovered
planet Proxima Centauri B, performed using the Met Office Unified Model (UM).
We examine the responses of both an `Earth-like' atmosphere and simplified
nitrogen and trace carbon dioxide atmosphere to the radiation likely received
by Proxima Centauri B. Additionally, we explore the effects of orbital
eccentricity on the planetary conditions using a range of eccentricities guided
by the observational constraints. Overall, our results are in agreement with
previous studies in suggesting Proxima Centauri B may well have surface
temperatures conducive to the presence of liquid water. Moreover, we have
expanded the parameter regime over which the planet may support liquid water to
higher values of eccentricity (>= 0.1) and lower incident fluxes (881.7 Wm-2)
than previous work. This increased parameter space arises because of the low
sensitivity of the planet to changes in stellar flux, a consequence of the
stellar spectrum and orbital configuration. However, we also find interesting
differences from previous simulations, such as cooler mean surface temperatures
for the tidally-locked case. Finally, we have produced high resolution
planetary emission and reflectance spectra, and highlight signatures of gases
vital to the evolution of complex life on Earth (oxygen, ozone and carbon
dioxide).
