Rain soaks South America whilst snow blankets the Middle East by Susan Powell
The last few days have brought extreme weather to some parts of the globe - with very mixed outcomes.
In Venezuela heavy rain has brought scenes of devastation. The capital Caracas was deluged with 84.7mm (3.3 inches) in just 24 hours on Tuesday - this broke the previous single day record of 72.9mm (2.87 inches) from 1951.
This much rainfall in February is certainly a shock to the system as this is the peak of the dry season with only 10mm of rain expected for the whole month!
Landslides and flooding as a result of the rains have have destroyed over 500 homes and led to over 4,000 people being evacuated in the area.
Fortunately the worst of the storms now seem to be over for the north-central states of Venezuela but the heavy rain is expected to push eastwards for the next few days.
Meanwhile in the Middle East a winter storm as been received as a blessing by most. As the storm rolled through on Tuesday, snow showers, heavy rain and high winds paralyzed some areas but also brought welcome relief to drought-hit regions.
Snow fell in the Jordanian capital Amman and across most regions of the desert Kingdom. This brought much rejoicing in this, one of the world's 10 driest countries!
Jerusalem saw its first snowfall of this winter as did much of northern Israel.
Parts of northern Iran and Tehran have seen record breaking snow amounts. Up to 1.5m has fallen in some areas over the past few days - the heaviest in the last 10 years.
Snow blanketed Mount Lebanon from an atlitude of 700m (about 2,300 feet) and the Bekaa Valey of eastern Lebanon. Snow ploughs have been working overtime trying to keep the Beirut-Damaskas highway open.
Temperatures fell to just 6C (43F) overnight in the Lebanese capital - the average February minimum here is 11C (52). The Bekaa Valey bore the brunt of the cold though - here lows of -9 (16F) were recorded!
The next few days are set to be much quieter and milder across the region. The storm is now moving eastwards across the Caspian Sea, behind it the weather will be fine for most in the next few days with just the occasional shower. Temperatures are set to make a good recovery, returning to average values for the end of the week.
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