Weather – Page 6 – Infinite Unknown

UK Cold Weather Budget Already Overspent

December 5, 2010December 5, 2010 by Infinite

£100m cold weather payments ‘put hole in DWP budget’

The early bout of arctic weather has already triggered £100 million of extra benefits spending, more than the sum ministers had budgeted for the entire winter.

Around four million old and vulnerable people this week received the first cold weather payments of the year.

But the early arrival of wintry weather threatens to punch a hole in the budget of the Department of Work and Pensions, which makes the payments.

Low temperatures this week triggered extra payments to pensioners and other welfare recipients, who get £25 for each seven day period of extremely cold weather between 1 November and 31 March.

Payments are triggered when temperatures are recorded as falling to freezing point over seven consecutive days.

The first payments arrived in recipients’ accounts on Wednesday.

The DWP said it has spent £103 million on the payments this week.

However, the Treasury projection for cold weather payments this year had been only £76 million.

The Treasury said its projection is based on long-term averages for British winter temperatures.

Northern Europe counts cost of travel chaos causing big freeze

December 3, 2010December 3, 2010 by Infinite

– UK: Big Freeze Will Go On ‘For Weeks’

– Europe: Coldest Winter in 1,000 Years On Its Way, Connected To Gulf Stream Changes, Say Scientists

LONDON (Reuters) – Heavy snow caused travel chaos across much of northern Europe Thursday, keeping London’s Gatwick airport closed for a second day and disrupting road and rail travel in France, Germany and Switzerland.

Days of sub-zero temperatures and snow in Britain, beginning in Scotland and northern England and moving south, have halted flights and trains and could be costing the economy 1.2 billion pounds a day, according to insurer RSA.

Commuters struggled to get to work as Britain’s worst early winter weather in almost two decades showed no sign of easing.

Gatwick, Britain’s second busiest airport, said it would remain closed until at least 6 a.m. Friday. Edinburgh airport, operated by BAA, was expected to reopen by 4 p.m. on Thursday after closing all day Wednesday.

Amid widespread criticism of Britain’s inability to cope with bad weather, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond ordered a review of how transport operators had responded this week.

UK: Snow Closes Roads And Schools From Cornwall to Scotland, Temperatures As Low As Minus 20C In The Coming Days

November 30, 2010 by Infinite

– Europe: Coldest Winter in 1,000 Years On Its Way, Connected To Gulf Stream Changes, Say Scientists

Britain’s worst November snowfall for decades shut schools and roads from Cornwall to Scotland as forecasters warned that Siberian winds could bring temperatures as low as minus 20C in the coming days.

Deep snow and freezing conditions in the North East and Scotland were causing widespread travel disruption today, with icy temperatures everywhere else creating similar problems for commuters.

There is no sign of a let-up in the wintry weather, with bitter winds increasing and more parts of the UK including London facing snow in the coming days.

So far Scotland and the North East have been worst hit by snow, with more than 40cm in parts, and police have advised people to stay indoors for all but essential travel.

Forecasters warned the rest of the country is likely to be blanketed this week as the weather front moves west.

The severe conditions could also last well into next week, with rain, sleet and snow.

Aisling Creevey, of MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said Londoners should prepare for the possibility of snow tonight.

UK: Big Freeze Will Go On ‘For Weeks’

November 29, 2010 by Infinite

The big freeze will continue to grip Britain for weeks to come, forecasters said last night.

Motorists struggle as heavy snowfalls continue throught the UK Photo: AP

The predication came as more severe weather warnings were issued and parts of Scotland and North East England were hit by up to 16 ins of snow.

The snow will spread across the Pennines towards Manchester today and also move inland from eastern England towards the South East and London, the Met Office said.

A spokesman for the MeteoGroup forecasters said: “People should be bracing themselves for more cold weather for the working week and beyond.”

Gritters were out in force to clear main roads yesterday but conditions on minor roads in many areas were described as “treacherous”.

Police in the worst-hit areas warned motorists to drive only if their journeys were “absolutely essential” as the disruption caused by the earliest widespread snow for 17 years continued.

Snow And Ice Bring Chaos To UK

November 26, 2010November 26, 2010 by Infinite

Up to 6ins (15cm) of snow fell in the customary cold spots of north-east Scotland and northern England, as well as in Wales and Northern Ireland, but it even fell in Cornwall, causing problems on trains and on the roads.

Arctic Blasts Set to Sweep Britain

November 23, 2010November 23, 2010 by Infinite

Arctic blasts are set to sweep the country this week, bringing up to 8in (20cm) of snow as winter tightens its grip for the season’s first big chill.

Bitterly cold weather is forecast across Britain with the mercury plummeting to minus 9C (15.8F) in northern Scotland while maximum temperatures in the capital are unlikely to rise above 2C (36F).

Many regions have been warned to expect snow flurries as the cold weather takes hold.

But while freezing temperatures are set to last well into next week, forecasters suggested the biting conditions could abate later in the season.

Winter Storms Batter UK, Worse to Come: Forecasters

November 10, 2010 by Infinite

Severe weather alerts in the south and flood warnings in Wales and the Midlands as snow blankets parts of north and Scotland

A car negotiates the snow on the A93 near Glenshee, in the Grampians Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

Stormy wintry conditions continue to affect much of Britain with severe weather warnings in place for five southern counties and 14 flood warnings for Wales, the Midlands and the north-east.

In Cumbria, six vehicles were rescued by police after five inches (13cm) of snow forced The Kirkstone Pass to close for five hours on Monday morning.

The Highways Agency said flooding had closed one lane of the eastbound A27 near Chichester in West Sussex. Drivers were being delayed in the area.

By 6am today, more than an inch of rain had fallen at Shoreham Airport and at Farnham, Surrey.

The Meteorological Office has issued severe weather warnings for East and West Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and parts of Dorset.

In Hampshire, police offered to evacuate residents by boat after a road in Emsworth, near Portsmouth, was submerged under a metre of water. Residents of 50 properties are being offered shelter in a community centre.

Storm brings mix of rain and snow to New England

November 10, 2010November 10, 2010 by Infinite

FREEPORT, Maine (AP) — A powerful coastal storm packing rain, snow and sleet surprised New Englanders with its ferocity as wind gusts built to speeds topping 60 mph, knocking down trees and utility poles, leaving tens of thousands of people in the dark. At sea, swells topped out at more than 15 feet.

At the peak, more than 60,000 homes and businesses were in the dark Monday morning in Maine, where the Portland International Jetport recorded a gust of 63 mph. There were 15,000 outages in New Hampshire, where winds topped 60 mph at the Isles of Shoals. There were sporadic outages elsewhere.

The storm raked the region with driving rain, sleet and freezing rain, and powerful winds seemed to grab trees and effortlessly shake them. Dozens of schools closed for the day because of power outages and at least one traffic fatality was blamed on the weather.

In Freeport, Bill Fish was startled when he awoke Monday morning to find a 75-foot pine tree had snapped and fallen across some power lines, which crashed into a heap in the middle of the road. Somehow, he’d managed to sleep through the commotion when the wind knocked down the massive tree.

“It’s good it went that way. That’s all I can say,” Fish said as utility crews restored power on his country road. “If it had come this way, it would have hit my house.”

Europe: Coldest Winter in 1,000 Years On Its Way, Connected To Gulf Stream Changes, Say Scientists

October 14, 2010October 14, 2010 by Infinite

– Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico Has Stalled From BP Oil Disaster!

– Global Cooling and the New World Order:

The 58th Bilderberg Meeting will be held in Sitges, Spain 3 – 6 June 2010. The Conference will deal mainly with Financial Reform, Security, Cyber Technology, Energy, Pakistan, Afghanistan, World Food Problem, Global Cooling, Social Networking, Medical Science, EU-US relations.

Yes, ‘Global Cooling’ was on the Bilderberg agenda!

Global warming is a scam:

– Professor Harold Lewis: ‘Global Warming Is The Greatest And Most Successful Pseudoscientific Fraud I Have Seen In My Long Life’

– Kiwigate: Global Warming Scam Revealed in Court

Coldest winter in 1,000 years on its way

After the record heat wave this summer, Russia’s weather seems to have acquired a taste for the extreme.

Forecasters say this winter could be the coldest Europe has seen in the last 1,000 years.

The change is reportedly connected with the speed of the Gulf Stream, which has shrunk in half in just the last couple of years. Polish scientists say that it means the stream will not be able to compensate for the cold from the Arctic winds. According to them, when the stream is completely stopped, a new Ice Age will begin in Europe.

So far, the results have been lower temperatures: for example, in Central Russia, they are a couple of degrees below the norm.

“Although the forecast for the next month is only 70 percent accurate, I find the cold winter scenario quite likely,” Vadim Zavodchenkov, a leading specialist at the Fobos weather center, told RT. “We will be able to judge with more certainty come November. As for last summer’s heat, the statistical models that meteorologists use to draw up long-term forecasts aren’t able to predict an anomaly like that.”

In order to meet the harsh winter head on, Moscow authorities are drawing up measures to help Muscovites survive the extreme cold.

Most of all, the government is concerned with homeless people who risk freezing to death (The government? Sure!) if the forecast of the meteorologists come true. Social services and police are being ordered to take the situation under control even if they have to force the homeless to take help.

Argentina Has Colder Winter Than Antartica, Spurring Record Energy Imports

August 4, 2010 by Infinite

Argentina is importing record amounts of energy as the coldest winter in 40 years drives up demand and causes natural-gas shortages, prompting Dow Chemical Co. and steelmaker Siderar SAIC to scale back production.

Electricity supplied from Brazil and Paraguay rose to a daily combined record of about 1,000 megawatts on July 12, while consumption peaked at 20,396 megawatts three days later, according to Buenos Aires-based energy broker Cammesa. Shipments of liquefied natural gas are set to double this year.

Dow, Siderar and aluminum maker Aluar Aluminio Argentino SAIC are among companies closing plants, cutting output or seeking alternative energy sources after temperatures in parts of Argentina fell below those of Antarctica on July 15. Rising demand is exacerbating a shortage that began six years ago as economic growth accelerated and energy investment fell. The shortage is boosting costs as companies spend more to guarantee supplies.

“The situation is getting worse, because the shortage period is growing every year,” Gerardo Rabinovich, a director at the General Mosconi Energy Institute in Buenos Aires and an adviser to the opposition Radical Party, said in a telephone interview. “When this started in 2004, it lasted for about a week, then it was two weeks and now it’s more than a month.”

In July, temperatures in Buenos Aires were, on average, 1 degree Celsius below the usual low and high of 8 and 14 degrees (46 and 57 degrees Farenheit), with temperatures plummeting to about 2 degrees Celsius on July 15.

Tornadoes Confirmed In 4 Connecticut Towns

July 24, 2010 by Infinite

HARTFORD, Conn.—National Weather Service officials have confirmed that tornadoes touched down in four Connecticut towns during severe storms on Wednesday that knocked over scores of trees and wires across the state.

Meteorologists surveyed the damage Thursday and determined that tornadoes touched down in Litchfield, Thomaston, Bristol and the Terryville section of Plymouth. No injuries were reported.

Brazil Floods: 1,000 Missing, 39 Dead, 100,000 Homeless

June 22, 2010 by Infinite

Floods after days of driving rain have killed at least 39 people in northeastern Brazil, and left 1,000 unaccounted for and another 100,000 people homeless.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has called a crisis cabinet meeting and said the government would make federal funds available to help the homeless.

“Up until the early afternoon we had 26 confirmed dead in Alagoas and more than 1,000 people missing,” Teotonio Vilela Filho, the Alagoas Governor, said.

“We are praying for the missing to be found alive. But we are very worried because bodies are starting to turn up on beaches and on riverbanks,” Mr Vilela said.

Civil defence officials in devastated Alagoas state said the Mundau River burst its banks in the town of Uniao dos Palmares, leaving at least 500 people unaccounted for there.

“Pernambuco state’s rivers all run out through Alagoas. Swollen as they were they devastated cities,” Mr Vilela said. Thirteen people have been confirmed dead so far in Pernambuco, officials said.

The torrents swept away more than 40,000 houses, entire bridges and streets, as well as rail lines in 22 towns across Alagoas, Vilela said.

More Rain Hits Southern France, Death Toll Rises To 22

June 17, 2010 by Infinite

Paris, France (CNN) — The death toll from flash flooding in southern France rose to 22 on Thursday as rain continued to inundate the region, authorities said.

Up to 20 millimeters (0.8 inches) of rain fell in some areas overnight, the Var prefecture said in a statement. Despite the additional rain, most of the flood waters have begun to recede and cleanup has begun.

Some 104,000 homes were without electricity across the region, and 20,000 homes were without phone connections, the prefecture said.

UK: May Snow And Frost Bring Winter Chill

May 13, 2010 by Infinite

Snowfall, overnight temperatures of -1C and daytime ones four degrees below normal just days before Chelsea flower show

Widespread frost is forecast for much of the country tonight. (Guardian)

The famously bracing seaside resort of Skegness managed an overnight temperature of -1C, snow flakes fluttered down on Tyneside, and with more snow forecast for the Scottish highlands an new bedding plants likely to cringe in a widespread frost across much of the country tonight, it could be another week before the weather warms up to anywhere near the seasonal norm.

Maximum daytime temperature in the south east is expected to be no higher than 13C, at least four centigrade lower than average for May.

“Snow in May is not unheard of but it is cold for this time of year,” Tiffany Curnick, a forecaster with the Press Association’s MeteoGroup, said. “Milder air is coming in from the west, but we will still see maximum temperatures in the mid-teens in the south and the low-teens in the north for the rest of the week, which is still quite chilly for May.”

Rhode Island Floods May Affect 200,000, Says Red Cross Official

April 1, 2010 by Infinite

A man photographs a flooded commercial building along Elmwood Avenue as the Pawtuxett River overflows in Cranston, Rhode Island on March 30, 2010. Getty Images

April 1 (Bloomberg) — As many as 200,000 people may be affected by flooding in Rhode Island that has halted Amtrak service to Boston for two days, blocked highways and threatened a Rhode Island dam.

After two record flood crests in March, Rhode Island is dealing with damage reminiscent of hurricanes, Teddy Hampton, American Red Cross disaster relief operations job director, said in a telephone interview today.

“When you start talking about the numbers of people who are affected, it’s pretty dad-gum close to a Category 3 to Category 4 hurricane,” said Hampton, who flew in from Alabama and often has to respond to the tropical systems. “It’s going to far, far exceed the local chapter’s capability in every way.”

About 184 people were housed in Red Cross shelters last night, and many more went to the shelters to eat, Hampton said. The Red Cross estimates 180,000 to 200,000 people will be dealing with the flood on some level, from cleaning the sewer- tainted water that washed over their homes to finding food.

Mongolian herders lost millions of animals because of extreme cold

March 30, 2010 by Infinite

Appeal for Mongolian herders after cold kills livestock

Mongolia has been hit by unusually severe winter weather

The International Red Cross has appealed for help for thousands of Mongolian herders who have lost their livestock because of extreme cold.

The Red Cross said that millions of animals had perished during the country’s hardest winter in years.

It says it needs over $900,000 (£603,000) to provide emergency assistance to the worst-hit families and restock herds.

A BBC correspondent says those animals who survived are running out of food.

In recent months temperatures in Mongolia have dropped below -40C.

Local residents call it a “dzud” – a severe winter following a very dry summer, which has left reserves of fodder low.

Spain: Heaviest Snowfall in Decades Leaves 250,000 Without Power

March 10, 2010 by Infinite

A metre of snow fell in the Pyrenees leaving 6,000 travellers stranded and blocking up to 40 roads

A couple walk on the beach during a snow storm in Barcelona, Spain. (AP)

Nearly a quarter of a million people in north-eastern Spain were without power yesterday after the heaviest snowfall in decades brought major disruption to the region.

A metre of snow fell in the Pyrenees leaving 6,000 travellers stranded and blocking up to 40 roads on the border between Spain and France. Barcelona recorded its heaviest snowfall since 1962 causing road, rail and flight chaos.

Catalonia’s interior minister, Joan Boada, said the power cuts, caused by a fault in a high-tension cable, were affecting the area around Girona, 60 miles north of Barcelona.

Spain’s border with France at La Junquera was closed causing 30-mile traffic jams while 170,000 pupils had the day off as schools were shut, local newspapers reported. About 3,000 people were put up in a town hall overnight and many others stranded in their cars as railway lines and roads became impassable, Boada said.

Tens of thousands more were unable to get home after snow fell at lunchtime and many left their offices to photograph the rare scenes of central Barcelona and its beach lying under a blanket of snow.

“I’ve never seen anything like this here in all my life,” said Barcelona resident Raquel Lasmarias, 35.

Met Office: British winter was the coldest for 31 years

March 4, 2010March 4, 2010 by Infinite

Met Office figures recorded a December-to-February mean UK temperature of just 1.51C, while the 1971-2000 average is 3.7C

A driver eases through Great Chart in Ashford, Kent, during what the Met Office has now confirmed as the coldest UK winter for 30 years. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

After suffering snow, sleet, rain and consistently freezing temperatures, the knowledge that the Met Office has officially recognised winter 2009-10 as the coldest in 31 years brings with it a certain grim satisfaction.

Provisional figures from the forecaster show the UK winter ? which in forecasting terms lasts from the start of December until the end of February ? has been the harshest, in temperature terms, since 1978-79.

The news may come as little surprise to those affected by snow in December and January, when falls of up to 2ft saw councils’ grit supplies run low, travel chaos and the return of the Guardian’s snow day live blog.

US ‘Snowmageddon’: Hundreds of Thousands Remain Without Power in Washington DC

February 7, 2010 by Infinite

US snowstorm causes power cuts in Washington DC region

“This is maybe the biggest storm that we have had.”

Hundreds of thousands of people remain without power in Washington DC and nearby states after a blizzard blanketed the area with record snows.

Electricity was cut to at least 300,000 homes as the snow felled trees, and cut power lines. Emergency workers are struggling to restore power.

Washington got up to 2ft (61cm) of snow, one of the heaviest snowfalls in decades.

The storm disrupted transport from West Virginia to southern New Jersey.

A record 3ft (91cm) of snow fell on Maryland.

Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland have declared emergencies, allowing them to activate the National Guard to help cope with the wintry onslaught.

US Snow: Your pictures

Some 300,000 homes are without electricity in Maryland and neighbouring Virginia – the two states which bore the brunt of the storm.

Another 250,000 customers were hit by blackouts in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the New York Times reported.

Pepco electric company said its workers were scrambling to restore power, but warned it could be a few days before everyone was back up.

“We have a lot of scattered outages and the road conditions are not really working with us,” spokesman Andre Francis told AFP news agency.

Florida: Manatees die in record numbers from cold

January 26, 2010 by Infinite

– Deep freeze kills millions of fish in Florida

TALLAHASSEE, FL — More than 100 manatees have been found dead in Florida waters since the beginning of the year, mostly victims of a nearly two-week cold snap.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says the preliminary cause of death for 77 of the endangered animals is cold stress. They were found from Jan. 1 through Jan. 23.

The Sunshine State saw unseasonably cold weather starting around the first of the year that killed fish and stunned thousands of sea turtles.

Officials say the numbers of dead manatees from the cold is a record for a single year. The previous record, set last year, was 56 deaths from cold stress.

Jan 26, 2010

Source: AP

Florida Freeze Destroys Estimated 70% of Southwest Vegetable Crop

January 20, 2010January 20, 2010 by Infinite

Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) — At least 70 percent of southwest Florida’s winter crop of vegetables, including tomatoes and peppers, were destroyed by freezing weather, said Gene McAvoy, the director of the Hendry County extension office for the University of Florida.

Losses will be more than $100 million, McAvoy said today in a telephone interview. Tomatoes, peppers, squash and cucumbers are the major crops in the estimate, he said. In the U.S. winter, Florida provides about 70 percent of the tomatoes sold in the nation, McAvoy said from LaBelle, Florida.

UK: Gas supply rationed as temperature drops to -21C

January 10, 2010 by Infinite

The same is happening in China:

– Freezing Beijing rations gas supply (Financial Times)

– Chinese cities not ready for harsh winter (Xinhua):

Seven provinces and regions in eastern and central China have reported power rationing and Beijing declared an emergency due to the gas shortage after the new cold snap gripped much of China, resulting in soaring energy demand as coal supplies were already tight in most of the areas struck by the severe winter weather.

The China Meteorological Administration issued a cold-snap warning on Tuesday, saying temperatures in northern China had plummeted to minus 20 and 32 degrees Celsius, and the temperature in central China, including Hubei and Jiangxi provinces and the eastern coastal provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, nudged close to minus 8 and minus 5 degrees Celsius respectively.

A Nasa satellite image of a snow-covered UK: ‘It’s very unusual to have such uniform coverage,’ said the forecaster Michael Dukes

The gas was turned off for nearly 100 businesses yesterday to protect domestic power supplies after unprecedented demand brought on by the cold weather.

The national grid was forced to reduce the supply to companies in the North West and East Midlands shortly after issuing its second warning in three days that the system was running out of gas. Demand in recent days has been 28 per cent above seasonal norms and is likely to increase today after temperatures fell to minus 21C in some areas overnight — the coldest night of the winter so far.

Business groups and politicians criticised the Government’s attempts to safeguard the supply and called for more gas storage facilities to be built. “The longstanding vulnerability in our energy system has today been exposed and as a nation we now need to take security of our energy supply more seriously,” said Roger Salomone, the energy adviser of EEF, the engineering employers organisation.

John Hemming, a Liberal Democrat MP, said: “We are on the edge when it comes to our power supplies and there is no safety margin.”

National Grid issued a warning that the system would run short when pressure dropped in a pipeline that brings gas from Norway to a terminal at Easington on the East Coast of England. It said that it had been the first time in six years it had been forced to curtail the supply.

Britain’s biggest salt mine and the Government are drawing up rationing plans as councils run out of supplies to grit roads. Gordon Brown asked Salt Union, which runs the Winsford Rock Salt Mine, in Cheshire, to increase production as Richard Stokoe, of the Local Government Association, said that some councils such as West Berkshire had enough for only one round of gritting.

– Supplies reach dangerous levels in arctic UK (NEWS.com.au)

Thousands of minor roads and residential streets were icebound last night. The A628 in Derbyshire and Yorkshire, the A66 in Cumbria, the A1(M) in Co Durham and the M20 in Kent all remained closed along with several roads in Wales. Bus services in Cornwall were cancelled.

Thousands of people were left waiting for delayed flights and trains and hundreds were trapped underground for two hours after a Eurostar train broke down in the Channel tunnel.

Winter Chaos Around The World

January 8, 2010January 7, 2010 by Infinite

A train stranded in Shangdu, Inner Mongolia

World:

– Now that really IS the wrong type of snow on the line! Winter brings travel chaos around the world (Daily Mail)

US:

– Midwest bracing for heavy snow, wind chills of -50; South freezes too (AP)

– Colorado Becomes Country’s Cold Spot (ABC News)

– South struggles with record-setting freeze (USA Today)

Europe:

– Airport chaos as icy weather grips northern Europe (BBC News)

– Temperatures across Europe plunge to near record lows (CNN)

– Europe shivers as Britain braces for brutal winter (AFP)

With the UK being hit hard:

The death toll from Britain’s biggest freeze for decades reached 22 today as the country prepared for its coldest night so far, bringing the promise of even more treacherous conditions.

– UK gas supply dwindles as country experiences sub-zero weather (Electric):

The UK faces the possibility of gas supply crisis as the worst cold season in 30 years hit the country.

– UK’s only got enough gas to last eight days, say Tories (Daily Mail)

– U.K. Gas Market No Laughing Matter (Wall Street Journal)

– UK’s only got enough gas to last eight days, say Tories (Daily Mail)

– Some parts of the country have just ONE day’s supply of grit left (Daily Mail)

– Panic buying at supermarkets as Britain braces itself for the big freeze (Daily Mail)

As a sidenote: Met Office chief receives 25 pc pay rise (Telegraph):

The head of the Met Office, the national weather service which has been heavily criticised for getting its forecasts wrong, is now paid more than the Prime Minister, after receiving a 25 per cent pay rise.

China:

– China freeze to continue as power use, food prices rise (AFP)

– Chinese cities not ready for harsh winter (Xinhua)

– China tells factories to cut power use amid cold (BusinessWeek)

– Central China power supply in jeopardy on coal,weather (Reuters)

Cold wave in India:

– Cold waves in northern India claim 195 lives (Indian Express)

Army rescues 1,000 drivers stranded in cars for 12 HOURS as UK is paralysed by heavy snow

winter-chaos
Going nowhere: The A3 in Horndean, Hampshire was closed this morning after 1,000 motorists were stuck in their cars overnight and hundreds of vehicles were abandoned

Up to 1,000 stranded motorists had to be rescued by the Army today after some of the heaviest snowfalls in 20 years left drivers trapped in their cars overnight.
Among those stranded without food and water on the A3 in Hampshire was a heavily-pregnant woman and her baby daughter.

Millions of people across Britain were unable to get to work this morning as snowstorms caused massive disruptions on the roads and railways.

Thousands of schools remain closed, while major airports have been forced to ground flights as snow ploughs try desperately to clear runways of snow and ice.

More than 16 inches (40cm) of snow has fallen in the hills of north east England and the Scottish borders, while 12 inches (30.5cm) was recorded in Berkshire. Parts of the Northern Highlands recorded 18.5 inches (47cm).

The Met Office said southern England could see another six inches (15cm) this afternoon, with the ‘treacherous’ weather lasting for up to ten more days.

The Army, drafted in to save 1,000 drivers stranded on the A3, used military trucks and Land Rovers to rescue those trapped in a ten-mile jam on the trunk road at Waterlooville.

But some of the trapped motorists claimed they received no help at all and that ‘no one knew what was going on’.

Carla Holt said she and her 13-month-old daughter Lily-May were stuck for 12 hours in the freezing conditions. She said she received no support from the police overnight and was only able to leave the road when it was partially cleared at 6.30am today.

The 23-year-old said: ‘We went through hell. I am eight months pregnant, I couldn’t go to the toilet all night, I couldn’t warm the bottle up for my baby daughter. It was very frightening.

Beijing and Seoul Hit by Heaviest Snow in More Than Half Century

January 4, 2010 by Infinite

A worker de-ices a walkway at the Forbidden City in Beijing on Jan. 4, 2010. (Bloomberg)

Jan. 4 (Bloomberg) — The heaviest snowfall to hit Beijing and Seoul in more than half a century grounded hundreds of planes in the two capitals as temperatures in northern China were set to fall to the lowest in 50 years.

Beijing Capital International Airport canceled more than 500 flights today as of 2 p.m. local time, China Central Television reported. Gimpo Airport in western Seoul grounded 187 flights as of 2 p.m. local time, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said in a statement.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao called on local authorities to ensure food supplies, agricultural production and the safety of transportation, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. South Korea mobilized 5,000 soldiers to remove snow from blocked roads, Yonhap News reported today.

Suburban areas of Beijing received more than 33 centimeters (13 inches) of snow yesterday, the Beijing Daily reported. It was the capital’s heaviest daily snowfall since 1951, Xinhua reported.

Among those affected by the weather were Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang and Hong Kong Monetary Authority Chief Executive Norman Chan. Their flight to Beijing last night was delayed by heavy snow and the visit was canceled this morning, Patrick Wong, Tsang’s press officer, said by telephone.

About 90 percent of Beijing’s more than 1,300 flights yesterday were canceled or delayed, according to state broadcaster CCTV. At least three airports in China’s Shandong province were closed today due to the blizzards, it reported.

Schools Closed

Britain is facing one of the coldest winters in 100 years, experts predict

January 3, 2010January 3, 2010 by Infinite

Britain is bracing itself for one of the coldest winters for a century with temperatures hitting minus 16 degrees Celsius, forecasters have warned.

Parts of Scotland have had snowcover for nearly three weeks

They predicted no let up in the freezing snap until at least mid-January, with snow, ice and severe frosts dominating.

And the likelihood is that the second half of the month will be even colder.

Weather patterns were more like those in the late 1970s, experts said, while Met Office figures released on Monday are expected to show that the country is experiencing the coldest winter for up to 25 years.

On New Year’s Day 10 extreme weather warnings were in place, with heavy snow expected in northern England and Scotland.