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"C'est l'hiver avant l'heure;" or 'it is winter before it should be', was one local person's reaction to heavy snow falls which have hit eastern parts of France.
The cold snap brought power cuts with up to 50,000 households in the Isere region in the Alps deprived of electricity.
Authorities have issued an "Orange" warning, the second highest alert, and rescue services have been fully mobilised.
Up to 50 centimetres of snow fell in some parts making driving hazardous. An icy wind and fresh falls of snow on top of the ice only added to the dangerous conditions.
Many drivers were forced to abandon their cars while emergency services were called to clear trees from roads felled in the high winds, with gusts blowing up to 130 kilometres per hour recorded in one area.
Parts of the south of France were the worst hit by the high winds where on the riviera two people have been reported missing.
A search has been mounted for a 12-year-old boy on the island of Porquerolles. Emergency services say his bike has been found. A 26-year-old windsurfer is also missing.
In the port of Marseille the ferry Napoleon Bonaparte was damaged when strong winds broke the ship's moorings.
The hull smashed against the dock flooding two of its watertight compartments.
© Xinhua/Lin HongCitizens wearing thick clothes walk on a street in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, Oct. 28, 2012. A cold front swept the province on Sunday, lowering the temperature nine to 11 degrees centigrade in most parts of the province and bringing the lowest temperature down to less than zero.
Strong wind will make temperatures in northeastern regions fall by six to ten degrees Celsius on Sunday. A blast of cold air is forecast to sweep across the central and eastern parts from Monday, the National Meteorological Center said on its website.
The center also forecast that fog will shroud parts of Hubei, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces on Sunday morning, reducing visibility to less than 1,000 meters.
Over the next three days, parts of South China will see moderate to heavy rain, and some regions may experience torrential rain, the center said.
Son-Tinh, the 23rd tropical storm of the year, strengthened to a super-typhoon on Saturday night and was located 260 km southeast of Vietnam's Thanh Hoa at 5 a.m. Sunday.
Son-Tinh is expected to move northwestward at a speed of 10 to 15 km per hour and make landfall in Vietnam's northern coastal regions on Sunday night, the center said.
Meteorologists predict heavy snowfall throughout the country and have issued a nationwide class 1 warning.
"There may be large quantities of snow," explained Lisa Frost of the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, SMHI.
"As it's the first snow and it's quite early in the season, we're issuing the warning - especially as some people haven't changed to their winter tyres yet."
Throughout Monday, the Dalarna and Värmland counties have been slammed by a lengthy snow storm, which has left 10 cm (4 inches) of snow. SMHI forecast a further 10 cm before Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) is already fighting the blizzards.
The season's lowest temperature was recorded on Sunday night with Nattavaara in far northern Sweden hitting -22.1C (-6F).
"There may be large quantities of snow," explained Lisa Frost of the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, SMHI.
"As it's the first snow and it's quite early in the season, we're issuing the warning - especially as some people haven't changed to their winter tyres yet."
Throughout Monday, the Dalarna and Värmland counties have been slammed by a lengthy snow storm, which has left 10 cm (4 inches) of snow. SMHI forecast a further 10 cm before Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) is already fighting the blizzards.
The season's lowest temperature was recorded on Sunday night with Nattavaara in far northern Sweden hitting -22.1C (-6F).
Winter appeared overnight in many parts of Germany on Saturday with unseasonal heavy snow fall and subzero temperatures hitting central and southern areas.
Meteorologists say this is the first time for decades that snow has fallen on low lying areas in October. More flurries are expected over the weekend.
As much as 17cm of snow fell overnight in Thuringen forest in central Germany - a suspected record for this time of year.
Heavy snow also fell on Bavaria, Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and Saarland, with further flurries expected on Saturday in Leipzig, Dresden and Munich, according to the DWD.
"This happens maybe once every 30 or 40 years," meteorologist Christoph Hartmann of the German weather service (DWD) told Die Welt newspaper on Saturday, referring to the unusual snowfall in October.
The severe drop in temperature - by 20 degrees within a week - also occurs "very, very seldom," he added.
With winter's first onslaught, fallen trees blocked train lines between Leipzig and Munich, causing delays and diversions to the ICE high speed rail network.
A further 10-15 cm of snow is expected overnight in the Alps and in the Ore Mountains in Saxony, where DWD said temperatures could fall as low as minus ten.
Meteorologists say this is the first time for decades that snow has fallen on low lying areas in October. More flurries are expected over the weekend.
As much as 17cm of snow fell overnight in Thuringen forest in central Germany - a suspected record for this time of year.
Heavy snow also fell on Bavaria, Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and Saarland, with further flurries expected on Saturday in Leipzig, Dresden and Munich, according to the DWD.
"This happens maybe once every 30 or 40 years," meteorologist Christoph Hartmann of the German weather service (DWD) told Die Welt newspaper on Saturday, referring to the unusual snowfall in October.
The severe drop in temperature - by 20 degrees within a week - also occurs "very, very seldom," he added.
With winter's first onslaught, fallen trees blocked train lines between Leipzig and Munich, causing delays and diversions to the ICE high speed rail network.
A further 10-15 cm of snow is expected overnight in the Alps and in the Ore Mountains in Saxony, where DWD said temperatures could fall as low as minus ten.
Only twice before since records began has there been snow in October in all the nine provinces of Austria, on the 31 October 1941 as well as in the night of 23 and 24 October 2003.
Austrian weather expert Alexander Orlik from the central weather institute ZAMG said: "It is true the snow is very early this year and that is an indication that it will be a long hard winter, but not proof."
The early snow caught many drivers unaware who had not yet changed over to winter tyres - causing problems on the roads. The legal deadline to have winter tyres is 1 November in Austria.
In Carinthia parts of the region were left without electricity as the snow fell as a result of heavy snow meaning trees toppled onto the lines .
Austrian weather expert Alexander Orlik from the central weather institute ZAMG said: "It is true the snow is very early this year and that is an indication that it will be a long hard winter, but not proof."
The early snow caught many drivers unaware who had not yet changed over to winter tyres - causing problems on the roads. The legal deadline to have winter tyres is 1 November in Austria.
In Carinthia parts of the region were left without electricity as the snow fell as a result of heavy snow meaning trees toppled onto the lines .
The first snowfall of winter in Europe has fallen in Russia and Poland, with freezing temperatures being recorded earlier than usual.
Heavy snow fell throughout Poland, in what some are calling an "early winter", leaving three people frozen to death. The snow cut power supplies to about 70,000 in the Warsaw area and caused transport delays across the country. During the night, snow clearing machines were used to make roads drivable and workers spent the evening shoveling snow from pavements.
In Moscow, melting snow resulted in areas of the city, including parks and some of the central squares, becoming waterlogged.
© UnknownSnow surrounds this home in Valdez, Alaska on Jan. 9, 2012.
A whopping 438" of snow fell in Valdez last season. That's 36 feet of total snow accumulation! The 2011-2012 season delivered over 100" above the average (326").
In fact, after a whopping 98" of snow fell just in the first 12 days of January 2012, the National Guard had to be called in to help rescue folks buried in both Valdez and nearby, Cordova, AK. Incredibly, snow invaded a home of one unlucky Valdez resident.
Here's the kicker. Yesterday's first measurable snow in Valdez occurred 17 days earlier than last season. Of course, there's no predictive value to this, much as an early start to the hurricane season doesn't usually say much about the rest of the season.
© newson6.com
The weekend cold snap is just about over. Low temps this morning in the 30s will be replaced with highs in the upper 60s this afternoon along with sunshine and south winds. Temps Tuesday will move into the mid or upper 70s along with gusty south winds, but a cold front will pass the area late Tuesday evening bringing highs back down into the upper 60s to near 70 Wednesday afternoon.
The Bureau of Meteorology said many areas could see snow, frost and hail as the result of a low pressure system moving across NSW. "We've had quite a few reports of snow. We're expecting snow down to 700m over many parts of the state," said meteorologist Julie Evans. There has been 2.5cm of snow on the ground reported at Nerriga, in the southern tablelands. In the Blue Mountains, snow has been falling between Blackheath and Katoomba.
