The UK is currently experiencing a rather quiet spell of weather. The next few days will be dominated by predominantly cloudy skies, but generally only small amounts of rain. This is good news of course after the very unsettled weather of last week that caused problems with flooding. The legacy of all the heavy rain though means that even now, there are still a couple of rivers on flood warning. With calmer conditions forecast though, those levels should continue to fall.

Despite the odd cold snap, much of the winter so far has been marked by some very mild conditions which have had an impact on nature. The British Trust for Ornithology has reported that some species have begun hatching their young early - months before normal in some cases. It seems that the mild weather has tricked the birds into thinking that Spring had arrived ahead of schedule!

Whilst the UK has enjoyed relatively mild weather this winter, over in the USA things have been very different. Some places have been experiencing their harshest winter for decades and there is still some nasty weather around.

The northern plains are still dealing with another snow storm which has caused chaos. In North Dakota, a statewide snow emergency was issued as snowdrifts piled up to seven metres high. The actual snowfall was mostly light, but it was the effect of the strong winds that caused the problems with huge drifts forming. The continued bad weather means that efforts to clear roads have been partly in vain and it is thought that public safety and livestock could come under further threat.

In Minnesota, the Department of Transportation was advising motorists to take extreme care as roads turned into ice-rinks in the freezing conditions. In fact both roads and railways across the northern states have been badly affected. Let's hope that Spring, when it eventually arrives, brings some more pleasant weather!

Weather News from the last five days:
11/02/2004
10/02/2004
09/02/2004
08/02/2004
07/02/2004

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