Extreme Temperatures
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Snow Globe

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

Britain will be colder than parts of Greenland this Easter with temp­eratures plunging to an Arctic -10C (14F).
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© Daily ExpressSnowploughs battle to clear drifts as the big freeze shows no signs of relenting
Though the clocks go forward tomorrow night, marking the start of British Summer Time, there is no end in sight to the bitter weather.

This has already been the coldest March since 1962, the Met Office confirmed yesterday, and the fourth coldest since records began.

Instead of spending the four-day Bank Holiday pottering in the garden or driving to the coast, people are being advised to wrap up warm and stay indoors.

Millions have given up hope of spring arriving and are jetting off for some much-needed sun. And some are still digging themselves out after being marooned by 20ft snowdrifts.

Parts of the UK are likely to see a white Easter with wintry showers forecast for eastern areas, though these are likely to be isolated and the snow should be fairly light.

By Sunday and Monday much of Britain may look sunny and spring-like but will still feel unseasonably chilly. And the snowdrifts could remain well into April.

Snowflake Cold

Coldest March in Sheffield, UK for over a century

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Spring Snow hits Sheffield
March was the coldest in Sheffield for more than a century, new statistics have revealed.

City residents are still shivering, gritting their paths and de-icing the car each morning despite the supposed start of spring.

Now data compiled by the Museums Sheffield Weather Station at Weston Park shows we've had a right to grumble.

This month has in fact had the lowest monthly average March temperature since 1883 - and the second coldest average March temperature ever recorded.

The average temperature was a chilly 2.4C.

Ice Cube

Germany faces coldest March since 1883

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© DPA
Complaining about the weather has reached epidemic proportions in northern Germany this "spring." And with good reason.

With Easter just around the corner, meteorologists are telling us this could end up being the coldest March in Berlin and its surroundings since records began in the 1880s. The poor Easter Bunny deserves our sympathy. Whereas in recent years he has grown used to dodging daffodils, lilies and tulips as he carries his cargo of eggs and chocolate to homes across northern Europe, this year the rabbit will find himself confronted with ice slicks, snow drifts and bundled up humans in foul moods.

Easter, after all, may be upon us. But spring weather most definitely is not. Biologists are warning that the Easter Bunny's wild brethren, European hares, are having trouble keeping their broods warm and healthy in the unseasonable chill. Meteorologists are keeping close tabs on thermometers to determine whether this March will go down as the coldest ever -- since records began in the 1880s. And wiseacres on the streets of Berlin have not yet tired of noting that Easter promises to be colder than last Christmas.

And it's not just the northern regions of Continental Europe where the Easter Bunny will encounter problems. Great Britain and Ireland are likewise suffering through unseasonable weather, with power outages threatening the roast lamb and snow drifts making hopping difficult. Russia and Ukraine are also suffering.

Snowflake Cold

March set to be coldest in UK since 1962

Mean temperature for the month so far is 2.5C (36.5F) - three degrees below long-term average

This March is set to be the coldest in the UK since 1962, weather experts have said. Statistics from the Met Office showed that from 1 March to 26 March the UK mean temperature was 2.5C (36.5F), which is three degrees below the long-term average. This made it the joint fourth coldest in the UK, in records going back to 1910.
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© Jon Super/APPiles of snow line a road near Colne, Lancashire: March 2013 is set to be joint fourth coldest in the UK, in records going back to 1910.
The Met Office said this March was likely to be the fourth coldest on record for England, joint third coldest for Wales, joint eighth coldest for Scotland and sixth coldest for Northern Ireland. This March joined 2006, 2001, 1995, 1987, 1979, 1970 and 1962 as years when the month saw significant snowfall.

The coldest March in the UK was in 1962, at 1.9C (35.4F), followed by 1947, 2.2C (35.9F), 1937, 2.4C (36.3F), and 1916 and 1917, 2.5C (36.5F). The cold weather is expected to continue through the Easter weekend and into April, a spokesman said.

Full figures for the month will be available next week.

Snowflake

Blizzards, 60mph gales and panic buying: 36 hours of snow chaos on the way to UK

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Much of the UK can expect snow on Saturday, including the South-east
Heavy snow is expected over the next 36 hours as Britain shivers on the coldest March weekend for 50 years.

Up to 16ins will fall over high ground with several inches likely across much of the UK, the Met Office said last night.

Over 1,000 schools were shut and transport was disrupted as any hopes of spring were dashed by yet another onslaught of snow and flooding today as temperatures fell as low as -12C (10F).

Emergency services saw an early surge in weather-related call-outs as some parts of the country were hit by blizzard conditions. Government agencies issued a string of warnings urging the public to take care on the roads.

The South-west, which will escape the worst of the winter blast, faces flooding with up to 100mm of rain - almost two months' worth - over the next 24 hours as yesterday's heavy rain continues.

In total The Environment Agency issued 12 flood warnings tonight across the country and 81 less serious flood alerts.

In east Cornwall emergency services were searching for a missing woman her partially property collapsed during heavy rainfall overnight.

Igloo

Spring time? Snow in nearly half of U.S.

Spring Time in the US
© NOAAThis image shows snow covering nearly half of the U.S. and most of Canada on March 26, 2013.
Springtime: the time for flowers, newborn animals ... and snow. Nearly half of the United States is currently covered in snow, including most of Canada, as can be seen in this image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

That's the largest extent of snow cover at this point in the season in at least 10 years, according to NOAA. Much of the snow came from a massive spring blizzard that dropped snow throughout the Midwest and East Coast, breaking records in many cities.

The town of Lincoln, Ill., broke its daily snow total of 4 inches (10 centimeters), which was set in 1947, with 10.8 inches (27 cm) of snow on Sunday (March 24), according to AccuWeather. The weather system also dropped 2.9 inches (7.4 cm) of snow in Columbus, Ohio, breaking the old record of 1.8 inches (4.6 cm) set in 1965.

Ice Cube

The winter that won't end? Massive snow storm blankets much of U.S.

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© Julia Rendleman/Post-GazettePeople scurry to their cars as snow begins to accumulate on tops of cars last night along Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill.
Winter-weary residents of southwestern Pennsylvania braced for yet another round of snow and ice - seriously, Mother Nature, again? - Sunday as a massive storm system swept in from the Midwest, dampening hopes that spring-like weather might finally be near. By Sunday night, the storm covered much of the eastern half of the country, from Iowa to the eastern seaboard and as far north and south as Michigan and Tennessee. Along its path across the upper Rockies and Midwest, the storm left as much as a foot of snow over the weekend, with wind gusts creating drifts of 2 to 3 feet in some states. Just 3 to 5 inches of snow was expected to accumulate across much of southwestern Pennsylvania overnight, with another 1 to 2 falling this morning, according to the National Weather Service in Moon.

Still, local road crews were leaving nothing to chance, said PennDOT spokesman Jim Struzzi in Pittsburgh. Crews spent Sunday evening pretreating roads with brine and mounting plows back onto trucks. By midnight, when the heaviest accumulation was expected to begin as the main body of the storm moved in from the southwest, the highway department planned to have 70 to 80 trucks out across Allegheny County, Mr. Struzzi said. "It will be our full fleet," he said. "We're ready for battle." Heavy snow was expected to continue through the pre-dawn hours, then lessen as the day progresses. The winter storm warning issued by the National Weather Service expires at 11 a.m. today. "The snowfall is going to be lighter, plus with the late March sun coming through the clouds and warming the ground, not much will accumulate after morning even if the snow lingers into the evening," said Brad Rehak, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Moon.

Cloud Precipitation

Trend to colder winters continues in UK

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Figures released by the Met Office show the UK mean temperature for the 2012/13 winter finishing at 3.31C. This is below the long term 1981-2010 average of 3.83C.
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Figure 1

Ambulance

Canada: Traffic nightmare in Edmonton morning after snowstorm kills three, creates 100-car pile-up

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© Stephanie Williams / The Canadian PressVehicles litter Highway 2 near Leduc, Alta. on Thursday March 21, 2013. A blizzard that has been blasting through the Prairies is being blamed for a multi-vehicle crash south of Edmonton that has injured about 100 people.
As snow continued to fall throughout the night, City of Edmonton spokeswoman Laura McNabb warned commuters to expect longer-than-usual travel times.

"If the snowfall stopped, it would be far better," McNabb told the Edmonton Journal. "It's a lot of snow. Our guys are doing their best to get the snow off the road and lay down abrasives ... and they're just going to keep at it."

McNabb said the entire city fleet, consisting of more than 200 pieces of equipment, would clear the streets but commute times might be approximately doubled.

"There will be delays, that's just to be expected in these conditions," McNabb said, "If you don't have to be on the roads tomorrow, it might be a good day to take a day off."

A 23-year-old woman, a four-year-old girl and a two-year-old boy were killed Thursday morning when the compact car they were in crashed head-on with a truck about 180 kilometres northwest of Edmonton. Three others were seriously injured.

Mounties say it was snowing heavily at the time and visibility was poor.

The driver of the truck, a 46 year-old male, is facing several charges, including dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death.

Snowflake

Hungary sends tanks to rescue thousands of people from snow trap

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© Reuters / Laszlo BaloghA member of the Hungarian rescue team walks on top of the snow at the M1 highway, 80 km west of Budapest, March 15, 2013
Thousands of people in Hungary found themselves trapped in heavy snow after a sudden cold snap and high winds swept over Eastern Europe. Budapest has deployed tanks to reach motorists trapped by the conditions.

The heavy dump has trapped people in cars, buses and trains as dozens of major roads across the country were blocked by the snowfall.

Tanks and other military vehicles with caterpillar tracks have been dispatched to rescue motorists as trucks jackknifed causing huge traffic jams on the main motorway that links Budapest and Vienna.

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© AFP Photo / Szilard GergelyA police car arrives at the site of an accident involving a truck and cars at the E71 motorway, nearby the Croatian, Slovenian and Hungarian borders on March 15, 2013 a day after a heavy snow storm hit the area
"The situation is most critical on the M1 motorway where hundreds of cars are stranded in the snow, most of them for 18-20 hours now," Reuters cites Marton Hajdu, spokesman for the National Directorate for Disaster Management.