2nd December - Today's News: Record November Snowfall in Northern Finland

Bit of a catch-up after being away in Glasgow for MBA meetings the past few days....

Record snow fall at north Finnish village

Heavy rain in Cuba lashes Havana, killing two

Queensland weather records tumble as spring temperatures soar

Dog found under rubble 9 days after Illinois tornado

Farmers describe 'worst storm in 150 years' which hit S Dakota in October

In Britain, the St Jude storm may have killed around 10 million trees

Today, evacuations launched as bad weather hammers Italy

Norway not ready for extreme weather

Floods hit North Africa

Lakes discovered  beneath Greenland ice sheet

And whilst I was away, there was another nasty outbreak of rash headlines: Met Office denies predicting three months of exceptionally cold weather amid reports of Britain's 'coldest ever winter' - you can guess who made the story up!   The Met Office Contingency Planner Forecast (not intended for media consumption as it contains long words) does suggest a 25% probability that, overall, winter will be quite a bit colder than average.   But a 15% probability it will be a lot milder than average ....   And as gamblers (and those who understand these forecasts) know, even a sure-fire bet doesn't not always come in!   The real story is that there is a great deal of uncertainty, but on the balance of probability, it'll be probably be a colder than average winter, though with no reason to suppose at this stage it will be exceptionally so.   Oh, and there's no snow expected down here later this week, but there could be some to low levels in Scotland.  And it will turn colder for a few days.