Here in the UK, it's looking much milder than it was last week. Temperatures are set to soar, especially tomorrow, which will make a nice change from shivering day and night!

But we're also in for wind and rain. Nothing like the rainfall in Hawaii though. Here, a devastating 375mm of rain have fallen in just 24 hours.

Rain has also affected western Argentina - 22mm was recorded in the town of Neuquen. This may not sound like much, but the average for the whole of March is just 18mm.

Morocco, in northwest Africa, has also had some poor weather. At Nador-Aroui on the north coast, 28mm was recorded in 30 hours. In Algeria, also in north Africa, it was sandstorms that caused problems, as winds up to 50 mph whipped up sand and dust in the town of Bechar.

In the Middle East, an area which is used to sandstorms, the weather has instead turned rather wet. Babulsar, in Iran, sits on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, and recorded 29mm of rain in 24 hours, half the monthly average rainfall.

Pretoria, in South Africa, also had a wet, and cold end to the weekend. 34 mm of rain fell in 24 hours, and the Sunday afternoon temperature was just 15 Celsius. The monthly averages are 90mm and 26 Celsius respectively. But, at the other end of the country, it was fine and hot. Temperatures of 37 Celsius were recorded at Langebaanweg, far higher than the average March high of 21 Celsius.

Red Bluff in California also had a hot end to the weekend. Afternoon temperatures here on Sunday reached 29 Celsius. The March average is a mere 17 Celsius by comparison. The heat has been consistently building in southern California and southern Arizona in particular for over a week now, and a change isn't on the cards just yet.

However, the temperatures in the UK are certainly on the up. Tomorrow is looking unusually warm at the moment, with top temperatures forecast to hit 18 Celsius in some local spots in the southeast of England. With the sun shining here too, that is going to feel really very warm indeed for March. The rest of the week isn't looking quite so promising though, so enjoy it while it lasts!

Weather News from the last five days:
14/03/2004
13/03/2004
12/03/2004
11/03/2004
10/03/2004

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