After the warmth of last week, where we reached 20 Celsius (68F) in central London, this week has been decidedly chillier across much of the UK. Admittedly, temperatures have been close to what we would expect at this time of the year, but with a cool and blustery north-westerly wind it has felt much cooler.

In a vague attempt to warm myself, I thought I'd try and find somewhere else in the world where it's been warmer. My eyes were immediately drawn to the Indian sub-continent, where the summer heat really has started to kick in.

Conditions here have been extremely sultry. Daytime temperatures in several parts of Rajastan and West Mahya, in the north and west of India have soared above 40 Celsius (104 F). This is more than 5 Celsius above what is normally expected during April.

Across the border in Pakistan, it has been a similar story. At Nawabshah, situated in the south-western region of Sindh, the temperature on Tuesday rocketed to a scorching 45 Celsius (113 F). This is hotter than their usual average April temperature of 38.8 Celsius (102 F).

In both areas, it does look like things will cool down a touch over the next few days. An area of low pressure in Bangladesh and eastern India will track a little further west, turning the weather slightly more unsettled for a time.

In complete contrast to the Asian heat, it's been extremely cold in the southern Ukraine and the Crimea. Temperatures here during the recent weekend plummeted down to -16 Celsius (3 F), killing off much of the regions fruit crops. This has further added to the woes of local farmers. Severe frosts last winter, followed by a summer drought, had already devastated thousand of hectares of Winter and Spring crops.

The latest cold spell has been due to northerly winds feeding cold air south across the region. This cold air has also filtered further south into eastern Turkey. On Monday, the top temperature in the city of Kars was just 2.2 Celsius (36 F). Further south, in Van, it was even colder at 0.6 Celsius (33 F). Normally at this time of the year, both places should be seeing the mercury hit 10 or 11 Celsius (the low 50's F).

Maybe I shouldn't really complain about our current chilly conditions. At least with the winds now easing a touch it should feel a little less cold here in the UK as we head towards Easter.

Weather News from the last five days:
06/04/2004
05/04/2004
04/04/2004
03/04/2004
02/04/2004

Click here for the Review of the Day