29th November - Today's News: Four Dead as More Flash Floods Hit Southern France

Yet more floods in south of France leave four dead

Israel's rain-logged capital lashed by winter storm

It never rains but it pours as floods hit drought stricken Brazil

A rare, accurate newspaper story about the prospects of snow this winter: an Arctic freeze? Snowstorms?  The worst winter on record?  Probably not says Met Office after cold weather warnings.   But the less said about the Daily Mail's misleading headline the better (there may be a little snow over some hills in Scotland on Monday, but that is all and it's notable only in that there has been so little so far!).  To be fair, several other media outlets are running the same headlines, which will no doubt lead to cries of "where is the snow they forecast?" and "the Met Office got it wrong again!" as well as triumphant calls from certain quarters that "see, we said there would be snow!".   You just can't win.

And I beg to disagree with the suggestion that "we have not seen an ice free period in the Arctic Ocean for 2,6 million years. However, we may see it in our lifetime" made by Jochen Knies in connection with a new study on the emergence of modern sea ice in Arctic Ocean, 2.6 million years ago.   Not only is there evidence it was seasonally ice free a few thousand years ago, but it almost certainly was during the Eemian interglacial.   And I am sure during some previous interglacials as well.   And if he means permanently ice free then it most certainly will not happen in the next 100 years.