Weather | Westminster World

Dec122022 by Nneoma Ekwegh No Comments

Cold snap causes disruption across the UK

Climate, Environment, Explainers, London, Transport

A drop in the temperature on Sunday night has brought a Monday morning of fog, ice and snow which has caused major travel disruptions for commuters. Sunday 11th December, Photo Credit: Nneoma Ekwegh The Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Matthew Lehnert has said on the official Met Office website that cold weather conditions will remain during this week. He said: “In many places daytime temperatures will struggle to get above freezing, while overnight temperatures have the potential to drop below -10 C in rural parts of Scotland.” “While the freezing conditions remain drivers especially are reminded that freezing fog, snow and other wintry hazards will continue to create difficult conditions in places this week.” Transport for London informed commuters on their website that t

Dec122022 by Francesco FioriNo Comments

Transport affected by the snow. Motorways and Airports close for safety.

Breaking News, Transport

Credits: Francesco Fiori A snowstorm flooded London last night, forcing people to stop driving in the middle of the motorway A406 between Hanger Lane and Brent Cross. Flights Cancelled and some delayed. Freezing weather has hit London in the past few days, and last night needed a few hours of snow to block the M406 and stay cold for the rest of the week. Drivers had to stop driving their cars due to the road conditions. Cars were sliding, and impossible to carry on with their journeys. James Lucas, 39, TK Maxx manager, from West London said, "On my way back home last night, I saw that there was quite a heavy snow, but I did not put my snow chains on. I didn't know that I could be stuck in the motorway because of it." "I drove all the way from Kew Gardens retail Pa...

Countdown from 24: Solar terms in Beijing Winter Olympics

Breaking News, Climate, Culture, Explainers

2022 Winter Olympics opening ceremony. Credit: Weibo.com Speaking of the countdown to the opening of the Olympic Games, what else can you think of besides numbers? At the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, general director Zhang Yimou creatively used a new countdown method - using the traditional Chinese 24 solar terms instead of numbers to express the pass of time. The day of the opening ceremony is the first of the 24 solar terms, "Lichun", which means the beginning of spring. It is also the inspiration of this idea. What are the 24 solar terms? The 24 solar terms are specific days in the Chinese lunisolar calendar that represent the changes of natural rhythm. There are four seasons of the year, three four seasons, and two solar terms per month. Each solar ter...

Dec122019 by Juliane SonntagNo Comments

Heaviest storm in Icelandic history

Breaking News, Climate, Environment, Natural Disaster, News, Science, Travel, Worldnews

A bombogenisis (fast evolving) cyclone hit Iceland last night, causing damage throughout the country and cutting off the island. Up to 118 mph was the predicted wind speed by forecasts along with heavy snowfall. The air pressure dropped from 1005 hPa to 980 in only 19 hours before the storm hit the country. The weather alert was set to yellow, orange and even red. It was the first time in Icelandic history that a weather warning of the highest level was released since the new weather alert system had been introduced several years ago. The red alert affected the region of the Westfjords, a very exposed area in the northwest of Iceland, where the storm was suspected to be the worst. People in the whole country were advised to stay home. Forecasters especially recommended to avoi...

Dec72015 by Catherine McMasterNo Comments

Elderly should “prepare for the worst” in current weather crisis

ReportingWeek1

The elderly should wrap up, stay warm and prepare for the unexpected, Malcolm Booth, CEO of the National Federation of Occupational Pensioners (NFOP) told Westminster World. Almost 44,000 ‘excess winter deaths’ occurred across England and Wales in 2014/15 according to statistics released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). ‘Excess winter deaths’, a term adopted by the ONS, are the number of people whose deaths are registered between December and March. An unprecedented 27% more people are dying during the winter months compared to the rest of the year. The majority of deaths occurred among people over the age of 75. The Age UK has launched their Spread the Warmth UK. According to the Age UK, each winter one older person dies every 7 minutes from the cold. At the root of