25th May - Today's News: As Heatwave Hits Britain, Roof Collapses and Children Fall

Piers Corbyn's coldest ever May seems to have done a bunk as the weather takes a turn for the better and Britain skips straight to summer with glorious sunshine and soaring temperatures with on Wednesday, Altnaharra warmest place in UK as temperatures soar across Scotland.  Actually Cromdale was even warmer with 28.3c.   Now who'd have predicted that?  Actually, no-one forecast it would be quite that warm, even a few days ahead.   And it now looks like largely settled and often very warm weather will persist through into June.  Good news indeed for the Jubilee - and for my holiday in Snowdonia.

But even the hot weather brings problems with London heatwave suspected to be cause of Stockwell rooftop collapse and, perhaps even more bizarrely, heatwave blamed for rise in children tumbling out of windows

Butterflies move north due to hot summers - or perhaps, the lack of cold summers.

There's also hot weather ahead in Midwest, Mid-Atlantic for Holiday this weekend in the US

Hurricane Bud weakens to category 2, nears Mexico and in the Atlantic, up to 15 storms forecast for US in 2012

 

France weather: violent rainstorm wreaks havoc in Nancy on Monday night, with one person killed

High winds mar opening of Tokyo's Skytree Tower, the world's tallest broadcasting tower

In the US, Joplin victims and response remembered on anniversary of the tornado that killed 161 people

Street lights 'changing ecology on the ground'

Scientists find organic carbon from Mars, but not biological