Weather round-up, Sunday November 28th


Britain faces at least a week of cold – and perhaps a lot more – according to today’s press, with wind adding to the problems thanks to drifting snow and temperatures that feel lower still.

The BBC reports that an RAF rescue helicopter in south Wales had to try four hospitals before it could find one where the snow was light enough to allow it to land with two people rescued from the Brecon Beacons.

And it quotes its weather forecaster Peter Gibbs as saying: “By Monday into Tuesday almost anywhere down the eastern side of the country could be seeing snow, possibly into the Midlands.”

For those not already sick of the snow, it has a page of photos sent in by readers – snowscapes and street scenes and nature shots that are appealing now, but will certainly have lost their sparkle this time next week.

ITN is less cautious than the Beeb – while Auntie doesn’t like to predict more than a week ahead, its independent rival boldly (and rather depressingly) says there’s weeks of freezing weather to come.

It says police in affected areas are urging people to stay indoors, a warning also passed on by Sky.

The Murdoch channel follows the BBC’s line on how long the weather will last for, saying “several more days”, and quotes the AA as saying it had dealt with 10,400 breakdowns by mid afternoon, up 80 per cent up on a normal Saturday in November.

In the newspapers, The Sun cracks open its bumper book of weather cliches, trotting out the dependable “snow chaos”, “big chill” and “Arctic blast” lines. It predicts up to “TWO WEEKS” of cold.

Not wanting to be outdone, the Mirror opts for a “TWO-MONTH big freeze“. All it can find to follow it up with, though, is a half-hearted “travel chaos” and soon it’s reduced to reporting a Tweet by footballer Robbie Savage: “Today is the day when men get ­separated from big girls blouses who will wear gloves, leggins and snoodes!!! Be a man!”

The Independent is far more interested in the Cancun climate change talks than in the weather here, while the Guardian quotes a Met Office forecaster warning “there will be few places in the British Isles that will escape”. Its AA spokesperson says breakdowns are only up 40 per cent.

Predictably, the comments section of the Daily Mail story consists of huffing and puffing about today’s winters being far easier than they were years ago, when the police weren’t so liberal and soft and didn’t tell people to stay at home. Oh – and, of course, how this proves global warming is a sham.