Weather & Earth Science News

It's just been the coldest night of winter so far as Scotland reaches -13C and -5.1c in my garden.  And there's a chance of snow tonight! The disrupted polar vortex brings deadly cold snap to US states with Ice quakes, burning railways and other quirky effects In Queensland, disaster declared in Townsville, landslip from heavy rain threatens properties whilst graziers rejoice as deluge soaks drought-ravaged western Queensland At least 12 people killed as floods wreak havoc in Saudi Arabia Bangkok schools closed over 'unhealthy' pollution levels And how the 'American Dying' cooled Earth's climate as the massive decimation of the American population meant former agricultural land was re-colonised by forests.  But I'm not convinced a fall of just 10ppm of CO2 would really have that much effect.

As expected, we saw no snow in Evesham yesterday,  but in some parts this morning travellers face delays amid snow and ice warnings , though this mainly newsworthy only because so much of the country - including Scotland - has seen so little snow so far this winter. A little chillier in the USA though where the 'coldest air in a generation' hits the Midwest. Officials warn of almost instant frostbite North Queensland flash flooding traps people, inundates homes Buses flipped, planes damaged as tornado hits Turkey's Antalya airport And whilst Mr Ignoramus Trump always dismisses climate change when it’s cold. Not so fast, experts say.

Havana tornado: Cuba's capital hit by rare twister 75% of the US population will suffer below-freezing temps this week as a study shows - no doubt much to the incomprehension of the USA's most stupid, ignorant ever president - that major northeastern U.S. snowstorms expected to continue with climate change Snow begins to disrupt travel across the UK today - but only rain expected in Evesham .... 800 trees downed as icy conditions grip Romania Finland's cold winter brings out icebreakers ahead of schedule Bushfire smoke blankets Hobart as dozens of out-of-control blazes burn across Tasmania NZ's heatwave breaks second 157-year record whilst Australia's unrelenting heatwave could make this January the hottest ever on record for Sydneysiders as over 2000 flying foxes perish during Victorian heatwave Many northern hemisphere lakes 'skating on thin ice' as warming limits freeze And whilst it's been well known t...

In Siberia, a frozen river catches fire from escaping methane gas: should we be worried? A look at the stubborn high-pressure system behind Australia's record heatwaves Turkish couple dies after flash flood in Bodrum Rapidly receding glaciers on Baffin Island reveal long-covered Arctic landscapes - some parts haven't been ice free in 40,000 years The Met Office report that a big rise in atmospheric CO2 expected in 2019 And it's true that Earth's magnetic poles are on the move, but it's nothing to flip out about

Australia horse deaths: Wild animals perish at dried-up waterhole - dozens found dead and dying with nowhere to go after the normally reliable waterhole dried up in the extreme heatwave.  Meanwhile Adelaide now hottest capital city on record as temperatures soar throughout SA .  And the Adelaide and Melbourne heatwave forces locals to get creative to beat the heat with one couple baking biscuits in the sun. In North America, the usually rushing waters at Niagara Falls have frozen Indonesia flood, landslide death toll rises to 26 It shouldn't need explaining (unless you are a US President) but w hy cold weather doesn’t mean climate change is fake There's a 'tipping point' risk for Arctic hotspot , the Barents Sea. UK team drills record West Antarctic hole reaching a depth of 2km to the sediment below  And a new study says that the planetary collision that formed the moon made life possible on Earth

The Met Office issues ice warning after snow hits UK - including a very light dusting in the early hours in Evesham, first of the winter.  There's also been the first heavy snow of the season in northwestern Europe whilst icy roads and low temperatures cause disruption across Germany Across the pond, some ridiculously cold temps in the Northeast break records Whilst in Australia, Victoria and SA brace for all-time temperature records as BOM warns 'nowhere is going to escape the heat'   and Queensland hot weather record broken in state's scorching west .  Meanwhile in Tasmania bushfire destroys wilderness retreat as emergency crews look ahead to hot, windy weather .  But some unusually wild, wintry weather hits WA's south-west as cyclone possible in the north In NZ, strong winds causing chaos in South Island Six killed, thousands displaced in South Sulawesi floods Flooding in Mozambique as Tropical Cyclone Desmond makes landfall ...

In the US, after storm, large swath of nation plunges into deep freeze as Governor Andrew Cuomo urges New Yorkers to stay indoors as Arctic blast savages the East Coast .  Meanwhile in Canada a severe winter storm slams Quebec, Ontario .  Here, some places that normally see plenty of snow in January have had a light covering - but even on the top of the Brecon Beacons, nearly 3,000ft above sea level, on Sunday there was a lot more mud than remnants of slushy snow.   An EF2 tornado rips through Alabama town wrecking homes and businesses while reducing a historic church to rubble There's been a significant decline in North American glaciers since 2000: UNBC study Australia's monsoon late to the date but now ready to dump on Darwin but a warning that more records set to tumble as extreme heat continues to sweep southern Australia And a report suggests that Earth's tilt may exacerbate a melting Antarctic but omits to mention that obliquity is currently sti...

In the US, winter storm grounds hundreds of flights at start of holiday weekend ‘Pretty rare in January’: Seattle just set a record for warm temperatures In Australia, it's so hot the weather map has turned black! The woman with her head in the clouds taking some stunning weather photos.  New study reveals local drivers of amplified Arctic warming And 'Summer is happening’: Scientists reveal key new insights into Saturn’s moon Titan

For the first time in four years, snow covers Jerusalem, with the Dome of the Rock and Western Wall more beautiful than ever as freezing temperatures hit Middle East and there's at least two dead as deadly winter storm hits from Turkey to Egypt Sydney suffers in heatwave as NSW temperatures soar past 46 degrees Celsius whilst last night was Australia's hottest on record with a minima of 35.9c recorded in Noona In California, a hiker is critically injured by boulder; mudslides hit Hollywood Hills and Echo Park with latest reports saying six fatalities attributed to the weather Heavy snow traps dozens of nuns in Alpine monastery And Saturn hasn't always had rings - they probably formed between 10 and 100 million years ago and are the remnants of a comet. 

A few places saw some snow this morning - obviously not Evesham, but we did get a sun rise for the first time this year!   Arctic air has now swept down over the country and the long-mooted winter has finally arrived.   Roads melt as temperatures break records across NSW whilst the soaring heat turns outback into ghost town as the temperature there hits 48.2c  Heavy snow causes transport problems across Sweden Five dead as storm slams Northern California In Minnesota the latest subzero temperature record likely for Twin Cities Cairo turns orange as sandstorm sweeps Egypt And there's evidence of changing seasons, rain on Saturn's moon Titan's north pole

Avalanche hits hotel as parts of Europe are snowed under Australia's heatwave update: Temperatures are expected to peak over the coming days whilst BOM forecasts 47C in outback NSW as heatwave sparks ozone gas warning in Sydney's west .  And how one heatwave killed 'a third' of a bat species in Australia last November In Cyprus there's been more rain and storms, closed roads, flooding on Wednesday  A huge spinning ice disk forms on a frozen river in the north-eastern United States - possibly the largest ever recorded Flooding in northern Argentina expected to continue Antarctic ice sheet could suffer a one-two climate punch And the Russian military sent to assess giant rockfall blocking Bureya River as experts assert that it was just a normal landslide (as I said at the time) and not caused by a meteorite, crashed UFO or any other form of impact.

Temperature records broken in South Australian outback as bats fall from trees in Adelaide Lightning strikes pepper parts of Tasmania as fires burn and dangerous conditions continue and does the heat really feel hotter in Tasmania than it does on the mainland? Swiss town's population and hundreds of tourists cut off by heavy snowfall In Lebanon: Syrian refugees endure more floods from new storm whilst in Israel towns flood in north as forecasts see cold snap, snow in Jerusalem Antarctica losing six times more ice mass annually now than 40 years ago How Arctic cyclones change the sea ice And watch how air pollution moves across Europe

In the US, killer winter storm Gia continues to batter the Midwest and Northeast whilst closer to home, the worst snowfall in 30 years continues to batter Europe - and there may even be some snow on the hills here by the end of the week ....   America’s most struck states revealed as Texas tops the list for the most cloud-to-ground hits in 2018 Two cars carried off in flash flood in northern Israel Thailand to make it rain as pollution chokes Bangkok   Nature and man combine to create stunning ‘ice mushrooms’ in Amur region of Siberia Shifting north magnetic pole forces update to navigation model And this really bizarre claim about Yellowstone volcano will make your head spin

Death toll rises in Europe as snow continues to fall   whilst an avalanche bursts through Swiss hotel restaurant while guests are eating and snow brings parts of Europe to standstill But, so far, winter in Scotland's mountains 'has failed to install' . Our time may come towards the end of the month.   And a mild winter surprises Icelandic meteorologists with the temperature actually hitting a record 18.9c yesterday There's been widespread flooding as storm hits northern Argentina The world's oceans are warming even faster than previously thought A giant pattern discovered in the clouds of planet Venus And signals from space: Five theories on what they are - although maybe it's just The Guide updating over the sub-ethanet ......

Devastating floods and near-freezing temperatures bring death and more chaos to Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon Europe's snow chaos continues, with up to ten feet expected in Austria, 1,000 miles of ski slopes closed, more avalanche warnings issued - and temperatures of just -9F in Greece BOM declares 2018 Australia's third-hottest year on record whilst in China, Hong Kong Observatory announces 2018 was city’s third hottest year in recorded history as well Geoscientists reconstruct 'eye-opening' 900-year Northeast climate record for the USA US 2018 CO2 emissions saw biggest spike in years And CES 2019: IBM's hourly weather reports will cover entire Earth - it basically means developing nations should be able to get regular, and more detailed, forecast updates - as we already do - rather than just one general forecast a day.

There have now been at least 13 killed as deadly snowstorms batter Europe while there have been record low temperatures recorded in Florina, northern Greece Meanwhile, a storm surge sweeps across northern Germany Southeast Asia records unusual January rain after TS Pabuk And in Ohio a rare winter tornado causes widespread damage in Trumbull county

Antarctic ice melts to January record low - although records only began in 1978 At least seven people are killed and ski resorts evacuated amid avalanche fears as huge snowstorm hits Germany and Austria A dust storm turns regional NSW town red as western Sydney braces for hail and thunderstorm  whilst Queensland to cop drenching as Pilbara swelters And a century and half of reconstructed ocean warming offers clues for the future

Swiss winter kicks off with heavy snowfall in many areas whilst Germany raises avalanche alert after skiier deaths as winter snow storm cripples central Europe ,  But still no sign of winter for the UK ..... 2018 was Prague’s hottest year on record In California at the weekend another powerful storm triggers mudslides across wildfire territory, trapping fed-up motorists in their submerged cars And what causes the spectacular bolts of crawler lightning to flash across the sky?

Berlin sunniest, Frankfurt warmest in Germany's hottest year on record Meteorological Institute confirms 2018 was hottest year in Finland’s history And on the other side of the world,  2018 NZ's hottest year on record - climate scientist Hobart's sky turns 'apocalyptic' as distant bushfire burns Thailand Pabuk: Thousands emerge from shelter as storm passes with reports of at least one dead Wildfires tear through Chile In India, another day of low Celsius in Calcutta in record spell The long memory of the Pacific Ocean And climate change hits home as Solomons flood again

Tropical Storm Pabuk hits southern Thailand with winds of up to 70 kilometres per hour with fears it could be the worse to hit the country since 1989. -4.6c in my garden this morning means this winter has already been colder than 2011, 2013 and 2014 ....... but there's no sign of snow.  In the eastern Med, however,  Storm ”Sophia” causes severe disruptions across Greece whilst in the US more snow coats the Arizona desert than the Northeast, and it’s stunning How WA's Pilbara region can generate a heatwave that can stretch to Melbourne 770+ wounded, hundreds of houses damaged as quake hits southwest China And how Greenland's melting ice sheets release tons of methane into the atmosphere

Climate change in Europe in 2018: the evidence suggest it was the "most extreme" year on record for unusual weather events, from severe flash floods to the Arctic Circle experiencing 25 consecutive days above 25c In Sweden, Storm Alfrida knocks out Gotland phone network (including emergency number) In Thailand: tourists flee as Tropical Storm Pabuk set to bring seven-metre waves - the first tropical storm to hit the region outside of the Monsoon season for 30 years Fierce Newfoundland storm makes some roads impassable for even the plows A 'pacemaker' for North African climate And an (un)lucky paraglider walks away unscathed after surprise dust devil chews him up and spits him out

A bliadhna mhath ur! As soon as the very dull, drab, mild Christmas is over, we finally get a frost - and at -2.7c my lowest temperature since last March ....    Looking settled and very dry for the next two weeks too.  No snow on the horizon yet, whatever the media liars might claim.  And as it's down to high pressure, no sign of an Arctic/Polar/Siberian/Beast from the East Blast either.    Though with luck we may see something more interesting towards the end of the month.   Incidently, one of the more amusing (if that's the word) stories over the past week has been that - according to Ladbrokes .... - 2019 could be the coldest year on record .   As likely as me winning the lottery (I never buy a ticket).  Does make you wonder if such stories are paid for by the bookies as advertising? New Year's Eve bonfires spark flaming tornados in the Netherlands Thousands without power and traffic disrupted as 2019's first...