Weather in the general media (Newspaper features etc)

[Summer Sun]

'It's like the Antarctic up here': Rescue teams dig 50 people out of homes after Pennines drifts as forecasters warn of MORE SNOW

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2299239/UK-snow-weather-Rescue-teams-dig-50-people-homes-enormous-drifts-Oldham.html#ixzz2Og1ttYgI

[Summer Sun]

Scientists link frozen spring to dramatic Arctic sea ice loss

http://m.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/25/frozen-spring-arctic-sea-ice-loss

[Coast]

Atrocious spring weather prompts triple-dip recession fears

The Arctic-like spring weather could tip Britain into a triple-dip recession, economists have warned.

Disruption to transport, companies and schools caused by the snow and freezing conditions could be enough to leave the economy shrinking for a second quarter in a row. Samuel Tombs, UK economist at forecasters Capital Economics, told The Guardian that past experience suggested that High Street spending would be about 1 per cent lower this month as a result of temperatures being 3C lower than the average for this time of year.

"Given that most economic indicators suggest that the economy was barely growing at all before the latest bad weather struck, the snow could well be enough to cause GDP to fall for a second consecutive quarter,†he said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/9953858/Atrocious-spring-weather-prompts-triple-dip-recession-fears.html

[Mark Neal.]

Oh dear... End of April- Bit OTT!

http://metro.co.uk/2013/03/27/uk-snow-freezing-temperatures-could-last-until-the-end-of-april-3561733/?ITO=facebook

[Rainy]

Just heard Beeb Radio 5 this afternoon at 3pm, Richard Bacon show, will be having discussions about the current cold weather. Experts etc and implications for farmers.

Also--

Has`this link been posted

http://m.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/25/frozen-spring-arctic-sea-ice-loss

[Summer Sun]

Farmers in crisis as big freeze worsens and dozens of newborn lambs die

http://www.express.c...wborn-lambs-die

PRINCE WILLIAM TO THE RESCUE IN SNOW HELL

http://www.dailystar...e-in-snow-hell/

A real white wedding! Vicar rounds up villagers to clear 2ft of snow so couple's marriage can go ahead

http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz2Ok9ObgUr

Big freeze to grip Britain until the end of April say forecasters after jet stream which brings us mild air dips down to Africa

http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz2Ok9lwyQJ

Snow end to misery as Big Freeze to last for another MONTH

http://www.thesun.co...l#ixzz2OkARZEKE

[Summer Sun]

WSI have issued there latest 3 month forecast

Cool Pattern to Linger into April Before Warmer Temperatures Arrive in May

Early Data Suggest Another Cool, Wet Summer May be Coming for Western Europe

Andover, MA (27 March 2013) — Weather Services International (WSI) expects temperatures for the upcoming period (April-June) to average lower than normal across Western Europe, and higher than normal across Eastern Europe, western Russia, and the Nordic regions.

“The cold winter pattern across much of Europe has continued into March, as very strong high-latitude atmospheric blocking has intensified,†said Dr. Todd Crawford, WSI chief meteorologist. “While we expect the magnitude of this blocking to relax heading into April, the residual pattern will likely favor the continuation of below-normal temperatures across much of the region. While we do expect warmer temperatures to become more widespread by May, especially across northern sections, climate models suggest that the pattern heading into summer will become cooler and wetter across Western Europe. This summer pattern has been the rule for the last six years, as northerly flow and lower pressures have dominated much of Western Europe.â€

In April, WSI forecasts:

Nordic Region* – Cooler than normal Finland, except extreme northern sections

UK* – Cooler than normal

Northern Mainland* – Cooler than normal

Southern Mainland* – Cooler than normal, except Southeast

In May, WSI forecasts:

Nordic Region – Warmer than normal

UK – Warmer than normal

Northern Mainland – Warmer than normal

Southern Mainland – Cooler than normal

In June, WSI forecasts:

Nordic Region – Warmer than normal, except parts of coastal Norway

UK – Cooler than normal

Northern Mainland – Warmer than normal, except Benelux and northern France

Southern Mainland – Warmer than normal

http://www.wsi.com/47b709b5-a70d-4b6e-b32d-306c54cf125d/news-scheduled-forecast-release-details.htm

[Jon Somerset]

Right - I'm off to the med in June!

[Coast]

Are we about to get a very famous new member???

Rolling Stones fear wet weather at Glastonbury 2013

The Rolling Stones will be watching the weather forecast more anxiously than most after being announced as the headline act at Glastonbury, with Sir Mick Jagger admitting the idea of playing in a downpour fills him with horror.

http://www.telegraph...nbury-2013.html

Edited March 28, 2013 by Coast

[Summer Sun]

Snow: Fed Up Brits Head For Sunnier Climes

Some 1.7 million British holidaymakers are expected to head overseas for the Easter weekend, with Spain, Egypt and Tunisia the most popular destinations. As the UK suffers one of the coldest Easters on record, the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) says there have been substantial year-on-year increases in last minute bookings to warm destinations. Meanwhile, as many in the UK are looking to escape the snow, skiers are delighting in one of the best European snowfalls in years. Many ski resorts have extended their seasons and tens of thousands are expected to head for the slopes, with resorts in France and Austria the top choices.

Foreign city breaks are also traditionally popular at Easter with Paris, Dublin, Amsterdam, Rome and New York the top five choices. Bookings for UK breaks are reportedly healthy as many customers booked months in advance and city breaks are not so dependent on the weather. But last-minute bookings for camping holidays will have been adversely affected by the snow. Neil Evans, who runs a kiosk in Weston-super-Mare, said: "Unfortunately, without the sun we would expect our sales to be right down on last year when it was that much hotter.

The freezing weather in the UK is expected to last until after the Easter weekend.

http://news.sky.com/story/1070719/snow-fed-up-brits-head-for-sunnier-climes

[Summer Sun]

Poor households bear brunt of £16m payouts to gas bosses as we freeze

http://www.express.c...es-as-we-freeze

Snow chaos: How big freeze is killing one person every five minutes

http://www.express.c...ry-five-minutes

Spring Freeze set to make March the coldest since bitter winter of 1962 as parents are separated from their children by snow drifts for a WEEK

http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz2OqP47AWC

[Summer Sun]

Met Office three-month forecast was 'not helpful'

The Met Office has admitted issuing advice to government that was "not helpful" during last year's remarkable switch in weather patterns. Between March and April 2012, the UK experienced an extraordinary shift from high pressure and drought to low pressure and downpours. But the Met Office said the forecast for average rainfall "slightly" favoured drier than average conditions.

The three-month forecast is said to be experimental. It is sent to contingency planners but has been withheld from the public since the Met Office was pilloried for its "barbecue summer" forecast in 2009.

Last spring's forecast has been obtained by BBC News under Freedom of Information.

The Met Office three-monthly outlook at the end of March stated: "The forecast for average UK rainfall slightly favours drier than average conditions for April-May-June, and slightly favours April being the driest of the three months." A soul-searching Met Office analysis later confessed: "Given that April was the wettest since detailed records began in 1910 and the April-May-June quarter was also the wettest, this advice was not helpful." In a note to the government chief scientist, the Met Office chief scientist Prof Julia Slingo explains the difficulty of constructing long-distance forecasts, given the UK's position at the far edge of dominant world weather systems. She says last year's calculations were not actually wrong because they were probabilistic. The Met Office forecast that the probability that April-May-June would fall into the driest of five categories was 20-25%, whilst the probability it would fall into the wettest was 10-15% (The average probability would be 20%). The Met Office explained it this way: "The probabilistic forecast can be considered as somewhat like a form guide for a horse race.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21967190

[Summer Sun]

Weather: Economy Hit By Spring Snowstorm

Britain's fragile economy has been hit hard as a result of the spring snowstorm with some businesses reporting a slump in trade. Some high street retailers say the cold snap kept customers away during what should have been the run-up to a busy Easter weekend. Kingfisher, the owner of B&Q, reported a 13% drop in trade, while Next said it had seen a fall in sales during the bad weather. Experts say the costs to the economy of the unseasonable weather could run into billions of pounds and threaten to impact on economic growth figures. Some towns were cut off by the snow for up to a week making trading difficult on the high street. In the Derbyshire town of Bakewell, which was badly affected by the snow, businesses were hoping the cleared roads would encourage locals and tourists back into the town. Zoe McBurnie, owner of the Bakewell Tart and Coffee Shop, told Sky News that takings had dropped by £10,000 in just one week.

"The recession hasn't been too bad to us but the snow has been completely devastating.

"One minute you're busy and the next there's no-one coming in because the town is cut off by snow." Some of the biggest losses were on farms where hundreds of livestock, including sheep, lambs and cattle, were claimed by the snow drifts. On Nigel Birch's farm near Monyash in the Peak District, three calves lay dead on the yard, victims of the worse snowstorms there for 50 years. Hundreds of sheep had to be taken inside and fed on expensive corn feed whilst stocks of silage were running low. As lambing season enters full swing, newborns were left shivering in freezing conditions and had to be kept under heat lamps. "This has been a very difficult week - one I want to forget," Mr Birch said. "We've lost cattle, we're paying for new hay, feed and silage and in the end I think this spell will cost us between £5,000 and £10,000." Tourism was also badly affected as roads became impassable and families chose to cancel holidays.

Nikki Dick, a B&B owner, said her diary was empty as guests were reluctant to book or could not get to her because of blocked roads. "If I look at last year's diary for the same time it is full. This year we have a few bookings, but after that there's nothing. "People have panicked and thought they're best to stay away. "But the snow has been cleared, and we're all here open for business," she said.

http://news.sky.com/story/1071362/weather-economy-hit-by-spring-snowstorm

[Summer Sun]

Met Office defends forecasting

http://uk.news.yahoo...12.html#oUHTccm

Britain's colder than the Arctic: -10c freeze over Easter

http://www.express.c...eze-over-Easter

ARCTIC EASTER

http://www.dailystar.../Arctic-Easter/

Forecasters predict respite from Spring Freeze on Easter Sunday as biting easterly winds fall away but temperatures won't get higher than 5C

http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz2OwXr1nKj

Bleat the cold Lambs get woolly jumpers to survive -10°C Easter

http://www.thesun.co...l#ixzz2OwZHfB76

[Summer Sun]

Apology for Met forecast blunder

http://www.express.c...orecast-blunder

[Summer Sun]

MINI ICE AGE TO HIT NEXT YEAR

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/posts/view/306368/Mini-Ice-Age-to-hit-next-year

[Summer Sun]

Get ready for a icy Easter Sunday: British Summer Time to make a chilly start as Spring Freeze continues

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2301473/Get-ready-icy-Easter-Sunday-British-Summer-Time-make-chilly-start-Spring-Freeze-continues.html#ixzz2P3F0MU5L

[Coast]

Freezing weather brings fresh perils for British wildlife

Public urged to help save mammals, birds and insects whose habitats and food supplies have come under pressure

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/30/wildlife-suffering-freezing-weather

[Summer Sun]

Coldest Easter on record as Lapland is warmer than Britain

http://www.express.c...er-than-Britain

My sheep were under a 12 foot snow drift but the dog sniffed them out...

http://www.express.c...niffed-them-out

HERE COMES THE SUN... IN 34 DAYS

http://www.dailystar...sun-in-34-days/

Coldest Easter Sunday in 100 YEARS: Temperatures plummet to -12C as Britain faces another week of bitter weather (but at least there's some signs of spring)

http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz2P7pO2tK7

[Summer Sun]

BBC weather for the week ahead

Staying cold (temperatures will be higher than of late though for many)

Bitter winds

Largely dry

Edited March 31, 2013 by Gavin.

[Summer Sun]

Weather: Jet Stream Blamed For UK Cold Snap

"Daytime highs during this first week of April will remain well below average (9C to 11C for early April) and as the easterly wind strengthens again it will feel bitterly cold. Some snow is still likely, too."

However, she (Isobel Lang) said that next week temperatures will start to pick up by several degrees. "It is still a way off yet in terms of detail but the trend is there for something a little warmer with highs around the average, or even a little above. This is no April fool..."

http://news.sky.com/...or-uk-cold-snap

Summer Time starts with our coldest winter

http://www.express.c...-coldest-winter

MERCURY DIPS TO -12 AS BOOKIES PAY OUT TO WHITE EASTER PUNTERS

http://www.dailystar...Easter-punters/

Mad March was the coldest for 51 YEARS after average temperatures reached just 2.5C... and this idiot motorist proves we're really not used it

http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz2PDI7DsBA

Idiot driver drives along with just a small gap on the window

[snowflakey]

A little late, but I found it a quite pointed that the yesterdays bbc country-file forecast didn't hint at maybe a warm up, in 10 days or so.

[Methuselah]

Weather: Jet Stream Blamed For UK Cold Snap

"Daytime highs during this first week of April will remain well below average (9C to 11C for early April) and as the easterly wind strengthens again it will feel bitterly cold. Some snow is still likely, too."

However, she (Isobel Lang) said that next week temperatures will start to pick up by several degrees. "It is still a way off yet in terms of detail but the trend is there for something a little warmer with highs around the average, or even a little above. This is no April fool..."

http://news.sky.com/...or-uk-cold-snap

Summer Time starts with our coldest winter

http://www.express.c...-coldest-winter

MERCURY DIPS TO -12 AS BOOKIES PAY OUT TO WHITE EASTER PUNTERS

http://www.dailystar...Easter-punters/

Mad March was the coldest for 51 YEARS after average temperatures reached just 2.5C... and this idiot motorist proves we're really not used it

http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz2PDI7DsBA

Idiot driver drives along with just a small gap on the window

Hiding his Daily Mail?

[Summer Sun]

Fort William Fire 'Under Control': Homes Safe

A wild fire stretching three miles has consumed land close to homes in the Highlands. Around 45 firefighters battled the blaze north of Fort William throughout the night to bring it under control. First reported on Monday evening, the fire started on grassland and heath north of the B8004 road. Although wind was blowing smoke in the direction of residential properties, no buildings were on fire or had to be evacuated. Ross, Skye and Lochaber Liberal Democrat MP Charles Kennedy said he had "never witnessed anything" on the scale of the fire. "If the initial reports are confirmed, then it is miraculous that there was no significant loss of property, far less worse," he said. "The spate of such fires recently across the Highlands acts as a timely warning to us all. But most of all it makes us all profoundly grateful for the professional expertise and courage of our firefighters and the other emergency services. We are indebted to them all." Some firefighters are still monitoring the scene, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said.

http://news.sky.com/story/1072642/fort-william-fire-under-control-homes-safe

[Summer Sun]

Wrap up! Cold spell will last till May

http://www.express.c...l-last-till-May

From the paper which prides its self on getting weather stories right

MISERABLE BRITS FALLING ILL IN COLD WEATHER

http://www.dailystar...n-cold-weather/

Where is spring? Farmer uses his quad bike to ask the question everyone wants answering

http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz2PJlhG1Fi