Weather & Earth Science News

Brazil lightning strike kills four people on beach  Storm kills 29 in Philippines, leaves 10 missing     We're in a record 2014 freeze for England, Wales and Northern Ireland - though it's notable mainly for the fact that it is notable: cold weather having been so rare in what will be the warmest year on record. Five homeless men die as France freezes Winter's arrival brings Swiss travel chaos And strange ice flows seen in Finland as Lapland chills to -35c - the lowest so far this winter Environment Agency: 7,000 properties to be lost to the sea over the next century 2014 may be the first year with no below zero temps in Anchorage , Alaska - although they mean fahrenheit, so it was still often freezing there! The weather teased, but tornadoes were few in Kansas in 2014 Big volcanic eruption near Tonga's capital

Winter finally arrived in Europe over the weekend with the French Alps worst hit as snow strands thousands of motorists in Savoy A chilly night in Britain as lowest temperatures of 2014 recorded - I reached -3.9c which as well as the coldest temperature of the year is only just above the lowest recorded in 2013 as well (-4.1c) - it's at least three years now since we last had what I would consider a decent frost (below -5c) Snowstorm paralyses major Russian highway - though the pictures don't make it look all that bad, certainly by Russian standards In Sri Lanka dozens dead and more than 100,000 lose homes in mudslides with more rain forecast for flood-hit SE Asia Storm Seniang: thousands flee as floods hit southern Philippines Delhi records lowest temperature in five years Sun's sizzling X-rays photographed from space

Severe flooding hits southeastern Asia with the Malay PM under fire as 118,000 flee worst Malaysia floods in decades Motorists standed by snowfall in Yorkshire last night - but not a flake in Evesham .... White Christmas hits Moscow flights For France, 2014 warmest year on record, but wet Tornadoes kill 4 in Mississippi; 50 injured during deep south severe weather just before Christmas Hawaii's Big Island peaks achieve white Christmas whilst winter storm Eris brings snow to Rockies, Plains, Upper Midwest and Christmas morning wind gusts roar through southern California Christmas weather breaks records in Atlantic Canada In Uruguay, worst storm in 50 years hits Montevideo And how global warming could turn Siberia into a giant crater 'time bomb'

Intense cold claims several lives across north India - deaths of homeless beggars are not uncommon there in winter as temperatures drop close to freezing Floods hit Thailand and Malaysia Passengers rescued from Glasgow train that drove into freak flood on Sunday night Piers Corbyn has tweeted his Christmas forecast - which, er, is wrong from the very start since in order for it to turn less cold with thaw floods we would have needed it to have first been cold with lying snow!   Any local flooding is due to normal heavy rain (which was not preceeded by snow) and it looks like turning colder and dry over Christmas, with no snow on Christmas Eve (except in the Scottish Highlands) and no pounding of sea defences in Ireland or the SW, though there could be stormy conditions in the North Sea at the weekend - exact details remain uncertain as models struggle to determine the course of a low pressure system that is expected to undergo rapid cyclogenesis.   ...

As mentioned on Saturday, heavy rain in Scotland yesterday, now moving slowly down through northern England and into Wales has brought some localised flooding as dozens rescued from flooded Asda store in Kilmarnock Strong winds sweep through Poland India fog causes Delhi travel chaos More die in flooding in Thai south 'Tipping points' for sea level rise-related flooding determined And the Arctic is warming twice as fast as world average according to NOAA's latest Arctic Report Card

Hailstones 'the size of marbles' rain down in storm causing damage on Lewis whilst at Fassfern near Fort William, victims tell of fear as lightning hits four village homes in one night No snow for Anchorage as strange weather lingers in Alaska's largest city   New, tighter timeline confirms ancient volcanism aligned with dinosaurs' extinction - it wasn't just the Chicxulub impact wot done it, it was the Deccan Traps eruptions too.  Probably.  As I have always thought. And it's not just silly humans who like playing in the snow, birds build snow tunnels for fun too

Snow storm death toll in Japan rises; forecasters warn bad weather to continue Although we're not looking at anything like the problems last Christmas, flooding causes train and road disruption in Powys and there is more rain likely over the coming days, so some further localised flooding is possible both in Wales, and in the Highlands as lying snow melts early next week, before it turns a bit cooler and drier again for Christmas (any snow on the 25th likely to be limited to Scottish hills).  Worth noting as well that the post-Christmas period could bring more problems with both wind and rain. 'Ice pancakes' found floating on the River Dee South-east Queensland left battered by storms again During last April's big tornado outbreak in the US, it appears that some birds 'heard tornados coming' and fled one day ahead 9 hurt, 1 missing after volcano erupts in Indonesia Satelite date indicate 2014 will not be warmest year on record...

Denmark has its hottest year on record - and it seems likely a few other countries, including the UK, may follow. 5 dead in snow-related accidents, travel disrupted in Japan   Severe storms hit Brisbane and Ipswich leaving thousands without power Satellites measure increase in Sun's energy absorbed in the Arctic And the Met Office have issued their 2015 global mean temperature forecast with a not surprising expectation that it will be one of the warmest on record

Has there been a recent increase in UK weather records? - a report in Weather says Yes.  But note there is no specific attribution for why so many more warm records have been broken since 2000. California's water woes quantified Winds fan multiple bushfires in north-east Victoria Heavy snow hits Japan's northern Hokkaido island, flights cancelled Snowstorm congests traffic in Morroco But a snow shortage worries Alpine ski resorts Whilst red hot lava battles snow as Russian volcano erupts Heavy rain causes havoc in NZ Volcanic eruption in Cape Verde destroys two villages A new scapegoat for global warming: Arctic ground squirrels unlock permafrost carbon .... And methane 'bleches' discovered on Mars - a sign of life?  And vindication of the initial reports of methane detected by the Viking lander in the 1970s?

San Jose records wettest December in 60 years with Monday rain It was a weird weather weekend in Kansas - with snow, fog and a tornado on the same day Shocking moment family's beachfront home toppled into ocean during violent storm in Washington Larnaca still reeling after weekend floods - officials say "it rained in the wrong places" ... Last decade sees dramatic increase in chance of extreme hot European summers Australia gets season's worst bushfire day - so far Western Queensland towns could vanish with drought threat Indonesia landslide: Jemblung death toll rises to 51 Parts of Pacific Ocean close to El Nino thresholds: Australia weather bureau   November temperatures end record streak, world still on pace for hottest year though Arctic sea ice volume holds up in 2014   Massive study provides first detailed look at how Greenland's ice is vanishing whilst in a separate study, concerns are raised that migrating...

When is a weather bomb not a weather bomb?    When it's used to describe a storm that undergoes rapid cyclogenesis thousands of miles away and doesn't even approach the British Isles ....   The Met Office rightly criticial of the media hysteria about last week's quite normal weather. Meanwhile, Piers Corbyn has been tying himself in knots (and even getting get a bit of criticism published on his own website ) over his failed forecast of widespead cold and snow - with 'feet' of snow in NE England ....  Apparently it was all down to the lack of fronts - so when it was cold it was dry - and then when there were fronts it wasn't cold enough .... and the Germans pinched it all!  Except even in Germany there was just some light snow on Thursday evening that caused traffic congestion, due to icy roads, on autobahns  around Hessen .  Nothing notable even there.  He has also ignored the fact that we had a west or northwesterly airflow throughou...

Tornado, mudslides triggered by powerful California storm with a wife and husband rescuse from floods after 'river of rain' triggers mudslides consuming dozens of homes on the west coast Here, travellers escape disruption despite heavy rains, strongs winds and snow in some parts - it is unclear at the moment whether the snow in the Highlands yesterday was the major snow event predicted by Piers Corbyn to affect the whole of Britain between the 12th and 16th ....  Or, indeed, any of the major, disruptive, snow events predicted by James Madden to have been occurring since the beginning of November! Queensland communities on flood watch as heavy rain to pound central areas At least 11 dead and nearly 100 missing after a landslide smothers a village in central Indonesia French mayor Rene Marratier jailed for role in deadly flood Even in colour, Comet 67P is grey And an icy walk on crystal clear mountain lake in Slovakia awes web

Flooding as storm pounds northern California and a falling tree kills man as rain, high winds thrash California, Oregon Sea of clouds cover Grand Canyon in rare weather event More travel disruption on roads and rail after snow and ice affect routes in Scotland Surfers ride 'weather bomb' waves in Spain and Portugal Video as freakish monster shelf cloud rolls in over Freeling property in South Australia In Algeria: snowfall - cut off roads, isolated villages in Setif And scientists estimate that there are now nearly 269,000 tons of plastic pollution floating in the ocean

Power is fully restored after lightning strikes in Scotland whilst wind reaches 144mph on St Kilda as storms cause chaos (that's on the summit of Hirta, not sea level) and huge waves crash on Orkney Islands In NI, two lucky to be alive after being engulfed by waves at Portstewart Strand Meanwhile, snow on A68 leaves up to 100 vehicles stranded as snow showers hit higher ground across northern Britain and at the (alleged) highest village in England, Flash, snow and high winds on A53 in Staffordshire bring road 'chaos' . Rain hits N.Calif. as powerful storm moves inland Winter storms pummel both sides of Canada with snow, rain and high winds Got shorts?  Seattle crushes record for warmest December day US tornado numbers among lowest in recorded history in 2014 As Queensland's storms continue, Brisbane, south-east hit by heavy rain, thunder and lightning Flooding after heavy rain drowns two in Greece whilst the floods situation in ...

'Weather bomb' storm brings disruption to northern UK   But it is worth noting that the storm 'bombed' - ie underwent rapid cyclogenesis, deepening quickly - whilst it was still off Greenland and has in fact filled slightly as it has moved eastwards, far to the north of Scotland (so it's not hit us at all).  But you know what the media are like when they get hold of a sexy sounding weather term!  Nor is this the 'storm of the century' - it's not anywhere near on a par with the 2005 'Hebridean Hurricane' , nor even some of last winter's storms.  The Met Office give us a closer look at 'weather bomb' and sets the record straight - but the media will undoubtedly ignore the facts in favour of scarier fiction .... Meanwhile Piers Corbyn has gone public with his forecast for 12-16 December warning of feet of snow in parts of Britain (and he clearly does not mean the high tops of the Cairngorms) as northeasterly winds bring very cold tem...

Queensland storms: hail in southern Brisbane after heavy rain and strong winds on southern Gold Coast and fist-sized hailstones reported as violent storm lashes Murwillumbah Disruption to travel services as stormy weather batters Scotland with heavy rain today before more snow showers and severe gales bring blizzard conditions to the hills.  There are also 'unusually high' waves forecast for Scotland whilst it's predicted the storm will bring 70ft waves and icy weather to coasts of Eire too.  Could also turn very windy (and wet) down south later on Thursday into Friday.   A stormy week then, but only what you expect in December. And it's looking stormy down the eastern side of North America too with 'incredible' subtropical storms to drench B.C. and in San Francisco, warning of the biggest rain storm since 2008 to hit the Bay area Do not panic about lack of snow in the Alps yet, say forecasters   Unruly autumnal weather wreaks havoc in Por...

Typhoon Hagupit sweeps across Philippines with reports of 21 dead, but today Hagupit weakens as it nears Philippine capital Manila I was away in Glasgow for MBA meetings at the weekend, and on Sunday morning I saw my first snowflakes since March 2013 .......  Just some light passing showers and not quite the disruptive 8 inches that some had predicted!  Nonethesless, there were 'several' accidents as snow hits Scotland  In Sydney, storms sweep across city for ninth consecutive day on Sunday, (lucky buggers!) with more severe weather on the way for New South Wales and Queensland   and some more pictures from the Daily Mail Meanwhile, there's a heatwave warning for Marble Bar - the world's hottest town Freak Russian blizzard: mad snow storm swallows cars, streets, buildings in far east Rain still falling in California after major storm breaks records California's drought is worst in 1,200 years, evidence suggests In Japan, elderly couple ...

Ice, frozen rain paralyse Czech public transport with more pictures as ice storm downs power lines and freezes trees in Austria, Germany and Czech Republic Fire and rain: havoc as storm hits Sydney Storm drenches California but it's only a drop in State's drought Philippines starts evacuating residents ahead of Typhoon Hagupit Antarctic glacial melt rate triples in Amundsen Sea embayment Amazon indigenous land loss threatens climate, study says Barrage of small impacts likely erased much of Earth's primordial atmosphere 'Year of wierd weather' on course to be named Britain's warmest for almost 250 years (ie since the CET record began) - though December looks like bucking the trend and not being quite so mild.  Indeed, it was the second coldest morning of the year in Evesham today.  But still only down to -1.7c    And according to our old friend Nathan, eight inches expected by weekend as the big freeze hits Britain .  But o...

For the first time, research confirms how global warming links to carbon dioxide Rare ice storms hits Waldviertel in Austria November produced a record soaking for south-east France Cold wave grips Beijing and Seoul, brings snow to Japan as blizzard in north-east China suspects school, traffic Another flood caused by heavy rain kills 11 in Morocco High temperatures, low rainfall make it a spring scorcher for Queensland And more or less I have been saying for many years, climate change drove mastodons to the brink of extinction, humans pushed them over

Australia has hottest spring on record as temperatures soar and Australia sweats over extreme hot weather Meanwhile UN Climate talks begin as global tempratures break records In California, heavy rain strands motorists, closes Pacific Coast Highway Lack of snow threatens to disrupt start of Austrian ski season Family buried by own house as tornado rips through town in the south of France And there was chaos in the Canaries: 80mph winds batter holiday islands as freak storm uproots trees and 30ft waves crash onto tourist beaches