Weather & Earth Science News

Heatwave continues to see weather records broken in regional Queensland as searing temperatures continue, and southeast hit by 25,000 lightning strikes Whilst Cyclone Christine tears through Western Australia's Pilbara, lifting roofs and felling trees Here in Britain, Dumfries and Galloway flood rescue family speak of ordeal whilst more gales and rain cause travel chaos in Wales amid warnings of more floods to come as 2014 looks set to continue as 2013 ended. Peak District sinkhole appears in Foolow, Derbyshire Indonesia volcano Mt Sinabung in fresh eruptions Proof we landed on the Moon as China's Yutu Moon rover pictured from orbit by NASA satellite And no real surprise that climate change misinformer of year: The Daily Mail

Having intensified over the weekend, Cyclone Christine threatens Pilbara coast with 200km/h winds, heavy rain as strengthening cyclone sets path for Australian iron ore mines - my brother is a train driver out there for RTZ and has wrangled a flight home early as a consequence ......  Meanwhile, heatwave declared as Queensland interior swelters through record-breaking temperatures And back home, more flooding and disruption expected as latest storm hits Britain Whilst in the US, frigid temperatures put Midwest in deep freeze, Northeast gets snow In the Philippines, metro Manila records coldest December temperature - a chilly, er, 20.8c ..... Lightning kills eight church-goers in Malawi And thousands in El Salvador flee erupting Chaparrastique volcano  

In Australia, Tropical Cyclone Christine intensifying as WA's Pilbara battens down - with forecasts that winds could be nearly as strong as they were across much of Britain yesterday where thousands still without power   - and whilst most of us shouldn't see quite such high winds again for a while, there could be quite a bit more rain before the year is out. Meanwhile, experts warn Queenslanders to stay cool, hydrated as temperatures expected to hit up to 46c    And some good photos as an obscene amount of snow falls in Switzerland (here in England, we could just possibly see winter arrive by the middle of January - though no promises yet!)

High winds and heavy rain lash UK and Ireland again In Eire, around 70,000 homes without power as storm chaos continues And 100mph gales and rain bring power cuts to Wales Wildlife 'thrived' in 2013 after hot summer There's been more than a metre of snow in Swiss Alps in 12 hours as snow storms batter northern Italy Macedonia extends emergency amid dense smog At least 44 dead in Brazil's flooding and landslides

The Avon peaked around 3m in Evesham on Christmas Day - similar to the same time last year, but fortunately not affecting residential properties.   Less luck elsewhere though as flooding ruins Christmas for thousands and footage of planes underwater in Surrey whilst plane takes off sideways in storm in Shetland Islands .  Today new flood fear as more rain and high winds forecast .   In Scotland, Salmond praises workers for Christmas emergency efforts And its not just us suffering as mass power cuts continue in US and Canada after storm In the Caribbean, heavy rain kills eight in St Vincent Brazil president pledges aid after deadly floods there Meanwhile, Moscow weather beats 1910 temperature record to give them their warmest ever Christmas A warning that 'snow cyclones' could threaten Sochi Olympics in the new year And Met Office to offer daily space weather forecasts

All in all, nothing that eventful here - although about an inch of rain and the river is in flood again - nothing unsual but more rain (and gales) are expected on Friday and again next Monday.  But yesterday's storm winds and torrential rain buffet Britain, leaving two dead   as heavy rain and 87mph winds bring disruption in Wales and it's not over yet with attention switching north today with Northern Ireland power cut warning due to storms and Scotland weather: high winds and flooding expected . The Daily Mail as usual has lots of dramatic pictures of the nightmare before Christmas  Meanwhile, North America storms spell cold, dark Christmas for many and half the US is already covered in snow .   It's rumoured we might see some snow here.  In 2014.   Sometime.  Perhaps ..... Tropical cyclone expected to form over northern WA Christmas morning Japanese volcanologists say several nuclear power stations at risk if major erupti...

Well it's looking quite a miserable day with wind and rain disrupting Christmas travel in the UK - no doubt plenty to report on that tomorrow. Over the weekend, freak storm destroys trees at Llanbedr, Gwynedd - possibly a tornado - whilst in the Borders Jedburgh hit by flash flooding Meanwhile, in Norway wild weather hit holday rush at the weekend And the weather outside is frightful across the Atlantic too where Toronto and eastern Canada battered by winter storm whilst deadly US storm cuts power and hits flights with, across the country, tornadoes, ice and record-breaking temperatures California closes in on driest calendar year on record In Queensland, weather bureau tracks new Gold Coast hinterland hail corridor 'Massive' reservoir of melt water found under Greenland ice And solar activity not a key cause of climate change, study shows

After a blustery weekend, the weather looks set to take a turn for the worse on Monday and Tuesday with a potentially very severe storm - models currently suggesting a central pressure down to 930mb - becoming slow moving to west/northwest of Scotland and affecting the whole of Britain.  The Met Office have issued this statement severe storm heading for the UK and are likely to upgrade their current warnings over the weekend.  Flooding could also be an inssue in some parts of the country.  Stay safe and don't travel unless you really really need to. However, despite what Rao claims , it probably won't be a white Christmas for most of us, though showers - mainly in the north and west - could be of sleet or snow so some may see some flakes, even if it doesn't settle. Meanwhile, US bracing for tornadoes and freezing rain as storm moves across country Power returning to homes, trees down, church spire toppled after wild winds across Adelaide And why it snows so much...

Hot weather spreads in Australia as heatwave hits Sydney and it's time to recline as heatwave breaks records with heatwave expected to hit one-third of Australia over Christmas .   But warnings heatwave may ruin Christmas for Australians, say BoM In Eire, 'mini tornado' in Kilmallock injures four Snow claim kicks up storm among weathermen in Thailand Blackouts across Buenos Aires during heatwave Arctic cylcones more common than previously thought

Another stormy day yesterday and though calmer in the south today, in Ireland winds of 110kmh expected today as tributes paid to storm victim whilst in England, sailor search continues after gales batter Britain .  Power restored to 10,000 NI properties after storm There's likely to be snow over most hills in Britain over the next week, but though it should generally be a bit colder for the rest of the month, there's no signs of anything of consequence for low lying England as yet.   But its not just us missing out: there's no snow in Siberia?  Locals marvel - and worry - at the 'snow shortage' It's hot down under as mercury hits 43.4c in Adelaide and higher than 46c in South Autralia's north as summer takes hold whilst Melbourne baked and flaked in 40c   November temps set new global high, NOAA says -  full report here In China, experts pour cold water on cloud seeding plans to combat smog While flash floods hit southern China ...

Another windy day today, especially in the north, and it's looking increasingly likely to be very stormy across Britain for Christmas with damaging gales most days next week (Christmas Day itself may give a slight reprieve - but details of where and when the strongest winds will occur next week are changing with each model run at the moment though).  Not much sign of snow except over hills, although there's a wee chance we could see a bit of sleet in Evesham tomorrow .....   At least it won't be mild!   The temptation is to refer one of these storms as Rao, because, shock! horror! utter amazement!  for once he might be almost sort of nearly right, warning of deadly 100mph storms to bit Britain on Christmas day It'll be interesting to see how stormy Piers Corbyn was predicting the second half of December to be, when he adds the December forecast to his online archives - he did forecast gales in Scotland for the 14-17 December, but oddly hasn't said anything...

Macedonia closes factories to ease deadly smog whilst further north, heavy fog to continue cloaking Swiss plateau Storm drops a foot of snow on Maine In NZ, freak storm caps Mid Canterbury's 'mongrel' year Thousands of tourists trapped by snow in Yunnan after the heaviest fall for ten years, whilst rain and snow continue to batter south China Over 300 houses damaged due to storm in Bhutan One from last week: heavy rains paralyse Rio as residents protest, loot And another: Madeira counts cost of tempestuous weather

More gales hit parts of Scotland , with it looking wet and very windy right through till Christmas now as low pressure remains entrenched near Iceland.  A subsidary low could bring some more damaging gales to the north later this week. US snow storm enters final stage after battering midwest and east coast Floods from storm Alexa force Gazans to leave homes Esa's Cryosat sees Arctic sea-ice volume bounce back And now snow falls in Vietnam for the first time in years.   At this rate, we could be the last place on Earth to see snow this winter!

And now even the Giza pyramids have snow (or graupel, anyway) ..... whilst we in England ponder the very remote chance that any heavier showers over the Christmas period could just possibly have the odd flake of wet snow in them if we're very lucky (seriously, it does currently look like turning colder Christmas week, but probably not cold enough for lying snow other than on hills) Snow hits Cairo for first time in over 100 years and a photo gallery: snow over Cairo's eastern suburbs And historic snow fall turns Holy Land into scenes we see in Christmas cards (actually, snow in Israel isn't all that rare) as 'worst storm in decades' rages on around Israel At the 3rd Ashes Test, Aussies and Poms agree: it ain't half hot mum Finland's intense storms stump FMI chief meterologist after storm brings near-record high winds Indonesian mud volcano to stop 'by decade's end' Evidence of mass extinction associated with climate ...

So that's where our winter's gone .... In Cyprus, Nicosia has its first glimpse of snow in years, cold weather, strong winds hamper travel in Greece , whilst a brutal snowstorm brings new misery for Syrian refugees and police, IDF called in to help motorists stranded in snow in Jerusalem .  Today in Cyprus, snowbound communities running out of supplies whilst in Israel, tens of thousands without power as severe storm continues . Storm Ivar leaves thousands without power in Sweden whilst over 40,000 Estonian households in blackout after storm Back home, it's snow joke: Scotland really is bloomin warm this winter (temperatures in the Highlands have been up to 16c this week) I'm really not sure what this story is about - but there are likely to be severe gales in the NW of Scotland over the weekend , and generally it's looking unsettled for the next week with deep low pressure persisting over Iceland and a strong west or southwesterly airflow, pe...

Just in time for Christmas: the ten worst weather places in the world - and amazingly, Evesham isn't there!   Or perhaps boring doesn't count as bad? Winter storm closes part of US Government Here, thick fog causes travel disruption as flights cancelled at Heathrow Airport Jerusalem braces for snow as torrential rains sweep Israel Floods kill 11 in northeastern Brazil - a region currently experiencing a severe drought! Esa's Cryosat mission detects continued West Antarctic ice loss Astronomers solve temperature mystery of planetary atmospheres Yellowstone supervolcano 'even more colossal' than thought.  When that goes bang, we'll know it! Could Los Angeles withstand a 'megaquake'? - something far more likely to occur in our lifetime And I've just seen the Met Office report on the St Jude's Day autumn storm, October 2013 which concludes it was one of the top 10 worst autumn storms to affect southern Englan...

Cold, ice grip US as more snow to blanket East and huge ice sheets smash onto parked cars from apartment blocks as US endures ice storm cold snap - but it remains rather mild and quite dull and boring in Britain.  No sign of winter here as yet!   There's also been record warmth in Alaska's Arctic . But if it's real cold you want, head to Antarctic where coldest spot on Earth identified by satellite .  Although Antarctic record low temperature disputed by the Russians ...... There may well be even colder spots. Perth braces for five days of searing heat rising to 40c by Monday Hurt seals flood wildlife center after tidal surge Chinese cities hit hard by smog again And let's get this one sorted straight away, it's claimed in the Guardian today that the US Navy predicts summer ice free Arctic by 2016 - but actually they just project that if the trend of decline from 1996-2007 continued, then it could be so by 2016 ± 3 years (so, in theory,...

Big storm dumps snow on East Coast, travel dicey whilst elsewhere deadly ice storm sees US temperatures drop to -29c In Britain,  Norfolk floods: minister likens coast damage to 'war zone' , but good news as Norfolk seals 'fared better than feared' in storm surge Dark Sky status awarded to Northumberland Park area 'Digital gophers' solve Mima mounds mystery Vast freshwater reserves found beneath oceans

US freeze shows no sign of weekend melt after deadly storm - quite a few date records have been set in recent days and for the first time in 20 years, cold records may beat warm records in US .   But no, that does not prove we're in a new ice age and that global warming is a lie .... And there's been snow falling.  In Australia.  In Summer.  That is all. - here in Evesham the current 'cold snap' hasn't even produced a frost ......  And daytime temps have been, if anything, above average!  And there's zero chance of snow over the next couple of weeks.  But let's not forget headlines like this or  this or this or even this !  ROFLMAO .... (Oh, and no Nathan, it wasn't the worst storm for 60 years .  It was the worst storm surge .) And btw, as expected, Piers Corbyn predicted the storm 3 weeks in advance .  Well, okay, he predicted that it would be mild and windy in Scotland for the period 1-7 December, with storm f...

It looks like we dodged a bullet, a big one .....  It's reported that last night's Suffolk tidal surge 'worse than 1953' - but plenty of prior warning, evacuations and above all much better sea defences mean that whilst some properties have been damaged and there's been widespread coastal flooding, there has been no loss of life.  We've been learning the lessons from past storm surges . Around the country: Around 400 people are forced to leave their homes after flooding in north Wales Flooding in New Brighton: Wirral clean-up starts 'Lucky escape' as tree falls on van in Manchester Scottish storm: driver dies as winds cause travel chaos and power cuts Freeze follows on tail of Scottish storm Auckley school roof blown off in high winds In the Humber esturary villagers advised to leave over tidal surge flooding fears Boston homes evacuated after flooding Hemsby lifeboat station washed into sea as floods hit Norf...

After a spell of quite quiet weather (and with another such spell looking likely from the weekend) today we actually get some weather.   Tragically, already at least one death as a result though. Storm brings flood warnings and travel disruption - winds are stronger and more widespread than the St Jude's Day storm in October. A tidal surge down the North Sea later today could be the worst since 1953 and the continent could be badly hit too as northern Europe braces for powerful winter storm and Dutch cancel flights as storm looms Meanwhile, in the US winter storm Cleon moves on to deliver one-two punch of heavy snowfall and dangerously icy conditions that will affect millions in the East and Midwest Saturn's 'hexagonal' megastorm seen by Cassini And finally climatologists use their super-compters for something useful and discover that Lord of the Rings weather like Leicester, Los Angeles and New South Wales

In the Canaries, Thor star Chris Hemsworth flees film set after flash floods and mudslides kill five (though I fail to understand why someone losing a day's filming is more newsworthy than 5 people losing their lives ....) Warnings as high winds and snow forecast for Scotland - down here we'll get a couple of frosty nights and that'll be it .... In NZ, rain brings relief to upper North Island after the 2nd warmest November on record Flood-tide to reach peak in 61 years, Saigon to be submerged again (translation: flood level to match the 61 year record peak recorded in October this year) And in Malaysia, flood: Kuantan town centre almost paralysed In the Canaries, Thor star Chris Hemsworth flees film set after flash floods and mudslides kill five (though I fail to understand why someone losing a day's filming is more newsworthy than 5 people losing their lives ....) Plastic found to account for the majority of marine microlitter accumulating i...

Australia charts warmest spring on record Highway shuttered, schools closed and flights cancelled as massive storm hits southern Alberta Thunderstorm causes storm damage at Limpopo hospital in South Africa And a dramatic picture of the Mount Mordor of Russia: erupting Russian volcano looks like mythical evil land from Lord of the Rings

Bit of a catch-up after being away in Glasgow for MBA meetings the past few days.... Record snow fall at north Finnish village Heavy rain in Cuba lashes Havana, killing two Queensland weather records tumble as spring temperatures soar Dog found under rubble 9 days after Illinois tornado Farmers describe 'worst storm in 150 years' which hit S Dakota in October In Britain, the St Jude storm may have killed around 10 million trees Today, evacuations launched as bad weather hammers Italy Norway not ready for extreme weather Floods hit North Africa Lakes discovered  beneath Greenland ice sheet And whilst I was away, there was another nasty outbreak of rash headlines: Met Office denies predicting three months of exceptionally cold weather amid reports of Britain's 'coldest ever winter' - you can guess who made the story up!   The Met Office Contingency Planner Forecast (not intended for media consumption as it contains lo...

It's discovered that mushrooms make their own weather - but only on a micro scale! Auckland hits record high November temperature There was a steep rise in winter deaths in Britain last year - though to be fair, the previous winter was quite a bit milder than average. In the US, Thanksgiving travellers cast a wary eye as storm moving eastward Tropical cyclones bears down on eastern Ghats Kiribati Island: sinking into the sea?   It's maybe not quite that simple, though the problems do appear man made... Arctic seafloor methane releases double previous estimates

Man dreads winter as single snowflake could kill him - well, not quite.  But he is allergic to cold ..... London hammered by snowstorm - that's London, Ontario ..... In the US, killer storm sweeps east Two dead, one missing after storm hits the island of Rhodes In Queensland, man gets struck by lightning and escapes with sore toe Fresh cyclone threat looms over Andhra coast Typhoon Haiyan: the search for bodies continues Indonesia raises Sumatra volcano alert to highest status Greenland's shrunken ice sheet: we've been here before - perhaps as recently as 3,000 years ago.   Although the Holocene Climatic Optimum ended ~5ka, the oceans continued to warm for a time even as the stmosphere cooled, and the suggestion is that the Greenland ice cap is affected more by ocean than air temperature. And pre-industial rise in greenhouse gases had natural and anthropogenic causes Acid rain, ozone depletion contribution to ancient extin...

3 killed in California as winter weather hits west Trees fell and gales blew as Sydney is hit by more wild weather whilst tornado with winds of up to 300km/h destroys one NSW home and damages others Cyclone Helen makes landfall on India's west coast In Derbyshire on Wednesday, tornadoes hit homes in Tutbury and Hartshorne Jokes from Iraqis flood the internet after downpour Missing sea ice data found in crusty Canadian algae showing a decline in summer sea ice extent over the past 150 years

Traffic chaos as strong winds and rain lash the Emirates as storms rage across the Arabian Peninisular killing at least 18 people Heavy rain lashes Andhra Pradesh as Cyclone Helen nears coast Volcanic eruption in the Pacific Oceans creates new island off Japan Black Beauty rock 'is oldest chunk of Mars' And clearly not one to ever give up or admit he was wrong, after the 70mph gales, killer floods, record cold and snow chaos all failed to materialise this week (except on the summit of Cairngorm) Nathan Rao today warns that winter 2013 to be longest in history .   Longest we go without seeing snow in Evesham is more likely!   Though of course, it will actually last exactly the same number of days as every winter (except in a leap year).   Lots of stock pictures of snow there - none current though due to the myserious absence of the heavy snow he forecast for November ....

Severe weather in the Mediterranean as Sardina hit by deadly cyclone and flooding with more pictures from the Daily Mail here Before and after the storm: The heartbreaking aerial photos that show the incredible scale of tornado destruction in Illinois town as survivors of deadly US Midwest tornado sift through wreckage - latest reports are that eight people dies. Wisconsin storm damage blamed on 100mph winds - no evidence of tornado In Australia, freak storm leaves Mount Garnet damage trail whilst southeast Queensland lashed by severe thunderstorms bringing large hail, damaging winds Near-future heat and precipitation extremes predicted Active volcano found under Antarctic ice: eruption could raise sea levels And finally, today's lies from billionaire media-mogul Elliot Carver Richard Desmond are that we're all in for 70mph icy gales ...... to add to the 6" of snow, record low temperatures and killer floods....   The sick b*stard just won't...

Deadly tornadoes hit US Midwest with the usual array of pictures from the Mail as death toll reaches six and one Illinois town is left totally destroyed after massive string of 60 twisters wreak havoc .  And in Canada, severe wind and rain storm leave thousands without power in Ontario Meanwhile, in Australia, shoppers injured as 'mini-tornado' causes damage in Sydney's north whilst record rainfall drenches NSW and the misery will last for most of the week In northern Sweden 30,000 without power as storm Hilde hits , the fury of 'Hilde' stuns central Norway   and in Finland, autumn storm Eino blows in, plunges over 200,000 homes into darkness (different names, same storm) with tens of thousands still without electricty today. Floods kill many in central Vietnam after heavy rains   And here we're looking at 100 days of snow: Britain now facing worst winter in 60 years say forecasters ....... well, no and no and no.   Nathan Rao and his m...

In Valdez, first snow of the 2013 season breaks records whilst elsewhere in Alaska, schools closed, thousands in Fairbanks regions still without power due to winter storm - the storm also brought unusually high temperatures And after some good snow fall, ski season starts early in the Alps - but no skiing in Scotland this weekend: last week's snow has largely melted ....  But there should be more in the week. Massive hail buckets down on Queensland 2013 marked by record sea level, weather extremes: World Meteorological Organisation And asteroids should be colonized or used as transports to planets, Russian scientists say - both ideas examined in the past by 'serious' science fiction writers (along with one other possible use - as extremely cheap and plentiful missiles with which aliens can bombard the Earth!)

The first spell of proper wintry weather across the whole of  the country now looks certain for next week, with even a risk of a dusting of snow over hills in southern England as blast of winter on its way to Britain .  Yesterday the Express warned of 4" of snow , whilst the Star were warning of killer floods - but not to be outdone, today they have decided we'll have 6" of snow .   I wonder what the battle of the comics will produce tomorrow.....   And if they are right, then they will be right for not better reason than Piers Corbyn was right in predicting the St Jude's Day storm (see bottom of this blog entry).  And as pointed out in the Huffington Post Daily Express weather front page forgets snow happens every year .  Meanwhile, it seems the Irish Independent just doesn't understand the rules of the game, warning only that there'll be no big freeze but bitter weather is on the way .  Wot, no killer blizzards?!!! btw the Star's floo...

Overshadowed by Haiyan, Somalia's cyclone-hit Puntland declared a disaster area with unconfirmed reports of up to 300 fatalities Haiyan is dead, better weather ahead for Philippines as the President lowers death toll estimate And, according to UN: Besides Haijan, 2013 storm season near average Almost an air frost in Evesham this morning, and the first noticeable frost in cars and roofs - next week looking even colder as we see the first proper 'northerly' of the season set in, though snow not expected down here and it looks likely to last only a few days.   Proper winter still some way off. In the US, as forecast, first snows hit East Coast and even in South Carolina unusual November snow fall on Colombia  Vast Antarctic iceberg 'could threaten shipping' - it has occurred to me that one reason for more sea ice around Antarctic could be an increase in bergs, which in turn mean calmer waters and more propensity for surface freezing. And  Saturn ...

Typhoon Haiyan relief effort delayed by torrential rain as British and American ships head to Philippines amid devastation .   I've said this before and I'll say many times again: this is why we need a well equipped military - the do the job they are best at: providing aid to those in dire need.   Much if not all our international aid budget would be far better spend training troops and medics and engineers, and building ships and helicopters to carry them where needed all over the world.   In the 21st century, the military should be about saving lives. And yet we cut their budget, curtaining their ability to respond quickly and efficiently to disasters like this.  Bad weather halts flights, trains, boats across Italy as storms claim two lives in Marche Somalis 'killed in Puntland' during tropical cyclone Four small earthquakes hit Indian capital Delhi In the US, about 600,000 bats killed by wind turbines in 2012, study shows ...

As expected, the estimated death toll in the Philippines has risen dramatically over the weekend, with some awful scenes of devastation.  Philippines devastation 'absolute bedlam'   as Philippines battles to bring storm aid .  And more deaths as severe Tropical Storm Haiyan makes landfall in Vietnam. US stormchasers catch Typhoon Haiyan hitting Tacloban And it's not over yet:  S Philppines sets up preparation as another storm looming Haiyan looks to have been the most deadly Asian typhoon since Typhoon Nina caused about 229,000 deaths after the collapse of Banqiao dam in China in 1975.  In comparison, all other weather news pales into insignificance..... In Queensland, more storms coming as southeast clears up after wild weather Himalayan snow season shrinking by 11 days/decade: study Ozone chemicals ban linked to global warming 'pause' - one of many factors, I am quite sure.   I despair at the way the media (and to some extent th...