ARGENTINA
It is usually North America that we hear about getting hit by tornadoes but this time it was South America. The province of Cordoba in central Argentina was battered by severe thunderstorms on Friday and these spawned the tornado which left four people dead and hundreds injured. Many trees and walls were toppled, with much of the area also left without electricity. Around five hundred people were evacuated, mainly due to damage to their homes.

INDIA
A cold and wet spell in the north of the country has resulted in the deaths of up to 54 people. The capital Delhi saw temperatures of only 14 Celsius (57F). This level is considered mild in terms of the UK climate but bear in mind that Delhi is only just outside the tropics at a little over 28 degrees north of the equator. This is about the same as the Canary Islands and northern Egypt! Further north in Rajasthan state the temperature actually dropped to zero. With thousands of people homeless or living without any form of heating, these temperatures can prove lethal. Heavy snowfall over the high ground in the Himalayan foothills has cut off the Kashmir Valley from the rest of the country. The Indian Meteorological Department has warned of the cold weather lasting for some time yet.

FRANCE
The same area of low pressure that brought around 50mm (2 inches) of rain to parts of southern England on Friday and early Saturday gave very strong winds across France. Trees and power lines were brought down in some places as gusts reached around 80 mph. Some roof damage to buildings was also reported and there were delays on the national rail network, SNCF.

Weather News from the last five days:
27/12/2003
26/12/2003
25/12/2003
24/12/2003
23/12/2003

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