Noisy pipes since the cold spell

Since the cold weather vanished my pipes in the attic occasionally make quite loud screaming (sometimes knocking) noises when you run taps throughout the house.

Doesn't happen every time, just now and again.

It is quite loud at times, and worried about potential damage.

Anyone got any advice as to what might be causing it, or what might fix it?

Is it a plumber job?

Alot depends on the age of your house and the design of the plumbing. Does it most occur when you turn of taps quickly ?

One of the most likely issue is a Water Hammer problem - either trapped air or sudden shutoff http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_hammer / http://www.answers.com/topic/water-hammer you can google lots of diy sites to see discussions on how people have addressed it.

I came across such an issue recently following the restoration of mains water to the attic tank - whenever water was run in the house - causing the attic tank level to drop - the mains pipe would vibrate alot as the tank flotation ball bobbed-up and down letting in spurts of water - possibly cause by a change in mains pressure - in this case fitting a device to stop the bobbing of the inlet tap sorted the problem.