The British weather has been keeping us on our toes today.
After a couple of cold days, we are in the process of drawing in significantly milder air from the Atlantic. I think we always knew that conditions could be very nasty for a time, and that was certainly the case for many northern and eastern areas. It wasn’t snow that was the problem, but black ice – a serious concern for drivers and pedestrians. It forms when rain falls on frozen ground. Delays were reported on many routes, with several closures, including the M6 early in the morning, and the A1(M) in North Yorkshire. There were several road closures in Scotland, with snow an added hazard on the higher routes. Thankfully, it is an improving picture as the weather in the coming week is set to become much milder with no obvious complications! (You heard it here first!).
Continuing with our wintry theme, a snowstorm hit Moscow earlier this weekend. In fact, snow and cold weather will affect western Russia for a few more days with temperatures plunging to minus 15C.
Ukraine was badly affected by the same snowstorm, a nasty low sweeping east from Germany. It brought down power lines and trees. After a day of cold, sunny weather on Monday, conditions will deteriorate again as the low pressure system that gave us our wintry weather, dives across eastern Europe.
Gales and heavy snow wreaked havoc across Austria on Saturday. Thousands of homes were without power, and some structural damage was reported. Motorists were stranded in blizzard conditions where winds of 60mph whipped up snow to over a foot deep. Despite opening early in the season, some ski resorts were closed because of the strength of the wind.
