11th January - Today's News: Altnaharra Records Lowest Daytime Maxima Of Winter (-13.5c)

Didn't drop below 0.2c here last night. But it didn't rise above 0.5c all day yesterday either ...... A slight thaw has set in, though we did get another cm of snow overnight. And still a risk of more to come on Tuesday/Wednesday. Meanwhile in Altnaharra yesterday, the temperature only rose to a maximum of -13.5c ..... Now that's what I call a cold day!

Though such temperatures have not been widespread, it's still no surprise that in Scotland, the big freeze causes railway chaos

Churches across Cornwall cancel services because of snow

Cardiff crises talks as grit runs out

Europe battered by Arctic weather as snow trapped drivers in Germany saved by army

Heavy rains end drought for Texas

Record low temperatures recorded in Cuba

Cold stuns Floridians, causes deaths elsewhere - and also in Florida, cold weather claims 38 sea turtles

In China, evacuation ordered as blizzard takes toll

So, could we be in for 30 years of global cooling? Almost certainly not, leastways, to any great extent (I suppose it may get as cold as the 1980s .... ) though I think it may be a few years yet before we start to see temperatures rise much, as natural cooling overides underlying anthropogenic warming.

Meanwhile, SA swelters through heatwave

Bering Strait influenced ice age climate patterns worldwide