17th April - Today's News: Sandstorms Hit Scotland

'Sandstorms' hit parts of Scotland amid high winds with more pictures from The Sun.    And earlier this month there were problems further down the coast in Lincolnshire as well where clearing coastal sand drifting 'remains a priority'

Major earthquake strikes south-east Iran with Pakistani troops in rescue effort after Iran quake -  although the largest to hit Iran in recent years, it was a fairly deep quake so damage is hopefully not as bad as it could have been.

Winter snowstorm dumps on Northern Plains as winter refuses to exit parts of the USA whilst in Canada, spring snowstorm tests patience, worsens flood outlook.

Study backs 'hobbit' island dwarfism theory - but controversy remains on just who their ancestors were.
Research aims to settled debate over origin of Yellowstone volcano

An update on the comet to make close flyby of Red Planet in October 2014 - it currently looks unlikely to impact Mars, which in a way is a shame as it'd be a spectacular sight!

And just for a laugh, US religious nutters have finally determined when was the Ice Age in Biblical history - after just 200 years of studying bronze age goat herders' camp fire stories ......