As the British Isles braces itself for disruption this weekend due to some severe weather conditions - heavy rain, strong winds and snow - we take a look at the affect of severe weather around the globe at this time...

Christmas draws ever closer and for the British Isles there will be a real snap of winter this weekend. Heavy rain will affect many today and will fall as snow across the hills of Scotland. Difficult traveling conditions will challenge last minute shoppers and those on an early get away for their festive celebrations. Further disruption is expected tomorrow as the the snow continues for Scotland even at lower levels, and also extends into eastern areas of England - accompanied by gale force winds, blizzards are possible and it will certainly be a bitingly cold day everywhere. But we are not the only ones at the hands of severe weather...

Snow brought parts of western and central Japan to a standstill on Saturday - even delaying the ever punctual bullet trains. The area has been hit by the lowest temperatures so far this winter - typically around eight to ten degrees below the average values for December. Nagoya City in central Japan saw its heaviest snowfall in 38 years with a total of 9cm. The wintry conditions proved perilous for travellers with slippery roads, delayed flights and Shin-kansen bullet trains around 50 minutes behind schedule. Nagoya City in central Japan has seen its heaviest snowfall in 38 years with a total of 9cm. Quieter conditions are forecast for the coming days and temperatures should slowly recover.

In the Philippines heavy rain during the last week has brought scenes of devastation. In the central province of Layte rescue and relief operations have now begun following landslides triggered by the non-stop rains. Flooding has also been reported in the nearby province of Bohol. The rain has been fed in on strong northeasterly monsoon winds and there looks to be little improvement in the weather here in the near future - there is even the addtional risk of conditions worsening due to a cyclone forming in the middle of the coming week.

Meanwhile severe tropical cyclone 'Debbie' moves ever closer to Arnhem land in the Northern Territory of Australia. The category 3 storm is currently packing damaging winds gusting to in excess of 100mph and promises to bring torrential rain for a time with a risk of localised flooding - especially in coastal regions. The storm is set to hit land around 4am local time on Sunday close to Goulburn Island then track inland in a southwesterly direction dissipating rapidly.

Weather News from the last five days:
19/12/2003
18/12/2003
17/12/2003
16/12/2003
15/12/2003

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