A Winter's Tale!

Some images of Winter 2010 to date!!!!

UK Satellite Picture

Benches

Look after the Birds!

Brighton Beach

Cars?

Hedges

Icicles

Airport

Trains

Roofs

Sheep

Trees

Village in Devon

Back Garden

Airports close amid some of the worst weather the UK has seen!

Weather - From the Met Office Official Website

Snow showers for eastern coasts. Dry and very cold elsewhere.

This Evening and Tonight:

Snow across southeastern parts of the UK will move away after midnight and most of the UK will be clear with a widespread severe frost. Snow showers are likely to continue in Northeast England, Eastern Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Sunday:

Most of England and Wales will have a dry, very cold and mostly sunny day. Northeastern parts of England, parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland will see further snow showers.

Updated: 1519 on Sat 18 Dec 2010

Sunny Devon 18 December 2010

News!
Overnight temperatures plunged leaving huge swathes of the country at a standstill.  London's airports cancelled flights as they closed runways due to the icy conditions.  Also many regional airports closed as the icy conditions made runways unsafe! 

Airports in Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands are also suffering cancellations and delays.

Officials have advised all passengers to check their flight status before travelling to their designated airport.

Belfast City Airport was closed last night while all flights were suspended at Belfast International Airport. Air passengers also faced disruptions at Exeter, London City, Aberdeen and Cardiff. 

From the BBC website 

"Gatwick reopened at 1445 GMT after 10cm of snow was cleared from the runway but delays and cancellations are expected for the rest of the day.

British Airways, Easyjet and Aer Lingus have cancelled all flights from the airport for the rest of Saturday, with the exception of the BA2055 to Sharm el Sheikh.

BA has cancelled all shorthaul flight from Heathrow for the rest of the day, and longhaul flights until at least 1900 GMT."

December 18 - Glasgow

Overnight blizzards and plummeting temperatures buckled a huge chunk of the nation's road network and hundreds of motorists were stranded overnight on the M6 Motorway in Greater Manchester.  Similar conditions have been reported in Germany and Italy.

Temperatures dropped as low as minus 13C in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, overnight with Gatwick producing a reading of minus 11C. 


This debilitating weather is certainly going to cause havoc in the run up to Christmas.  The last week before Christmas is the busiest of the year for retailers and courier companies.  Consumers are uncertain how to proceed with ordered goods - to cancel and get a refund or to wait and hope!  Christmas holiday makers too are facing the uncertainty of cancelled flights.  


This is set to be a Christmas that people wont forget in a hurry.  Next year - watch this space - Christmas shopping will be done a lot earlier I am sure!

Julian Assange Freed on Bail

Julian Assange freed on bail - but back in court in early January to fight extradition!

He naturally denies the charges of sex assault brought by the Swedish authorities who are applying for his extradition next month.  (Still find it strange that this should come up now - but maybe I am just sceptical).

Mr Justice Ouseley ordered Mr Assange be released on payment of £240,000 in cash and sureties and on condition he resides at an address in East Anglia.  He will be tagged and will be required to report into the local police station regularly but will essentially be free.  Speaking on the steps of the High Court to dozens of journalists, Mr Assange said: "It's great to feel the fresh air of London again."  

He went on to thank "all the people around the world who had faith" in him, his lawyers for putting up a "brave and ultimately successful fight", people who provided money in the face of "great difficulty and aversion", members of the press and the British justice system.  "If justice is not always an outcome, at least it is not dead yet," he added.  "I hope to continue my work and continue to protest my innocence in this matter and to reveal as we get it, which we have not yet, the evidence from these allegations."

He has been in jail for the last 8 nights but will now stay at a manor home on the Norfolk-Suffolk border owned by Vaughan Smith, a Wikileaks-supporting journalist and owner of the Frontline Club in London.

Mr Assange's solicitor, Mark Stephens, said after the court appearance the bail appeal was part of a "continuing vendetta by the Swedes".

An appeal has been made against the granting of bail but no one is owning up to making it!  The Crown Prosecution Service said they were acting on behalf of the Swedish government and the Swedish Director of Prosecutions said they fully supported the appeal - but a spokesperson from the Swedish Prosecutor's office claimed it was "a purely British decision".

Speaking to the BBC after his release, he said there was a rumour from his lawyers in the US that there had been an indictment made against him there.

Mr Assange's mother, Christine, said she was "very, very happy" with the decision and thanked his supporters.

"I can't wait to see my son and to hold him close. I had faith that the British justice system would do the right thing and the judge would uphold the magistrates' decision, and that faith has been reaffirmed," she said.

And so it goes on.  More leaks - more accusations - more leaks!! The more fuss the more people want to hear more leaks - obvious isn't it?  Ignore it and the furore will die down!! Wont it?

Julian Assange Refused Bail

Julian Assange, Wikileaks founder, has been refused bail by a court in London but but will fight the extradition order from Sweden

Mr Assange has been accused of sexually assaulting two women in Sweden which he denies.

Because of his nomadic type existence Mr Assange was refused bail - the judge considered him to be a "no show" risk! Judge Riddle said he feared Mr Assange "may be at risk from unstable persons".

The timing of this accusation is most fortuitous one would think as Wikileaks has been "leaking" all sorts during the past few days and it appears that there may be more to this than meets the eye.  A Wikileaks spokesman said the arrest was an attack on media freedom and pledged to continue publishing.

Mr Assange's lawyer Mark Stephens claimed the charges were "politically motivated" and he said the judge was keen to see the evidence against Mr Assange, an Australian citizen.

Mr Stephens also said Wikileaks would continue to publish material and added: "We are on cable 301 and there are 250,000 secret cables."

Downing Street denies any involvement in the arrest.

Gemma Lindfield, for the Swedish authorities, gave details of the allegations against Mr Assange.

One of the charges is that he had unprotected sex with a woman, identified only as Miss A, when she insisted he use a condom.

Another is that he had unprotected sex with another woman, Miss W, while she was asleep.

Kristinn Hrafnsson a Wikileaks spokesperson said "Wikileaks is operational. We are continuing on the same track as laid out before.

"Any development with regards to Julian Assange will not change the plans we have with regards to the releases today and in the coming days."

US State Department spokesman said the US would probably seek their own extradition order for Mr Assange but would have to wait for the criminal investigation to be resolved first!

Mr Assange's supporters have written an open letter to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, asking her to protect him.

Weather may win Adelaide Ashes Contest!

England former Captain,  Kevin Pietersen was confident of victory after his unbeaten 213 put them 306 runs ahead with two days of the second Test remaining.

England were 551-4 when rain put paid to play for the day.

"We had a clear idea where we wanted to be but we'll see how the weather is in the morning and push hard for victory.

"There's a lot of spin out of the rough which will play into Swanny's [Graeme Swann] hands and if we can bowl to our plans we can take 10 wickets," he said.

Pietersen's game has been off during the summer  but he went to South Africa with friend Graham Ford (former coach for Kent and South Africa) and put a lot of time into basic practice in the nets.

"It came back to me and he got me back to the way I used to play and went through bits and pieces I had forgotten."

After the second double century of his Test career Pietersen told BBC Sport: "It was nice to get the runs and it's really really good we're in the position we are, 300-odd ahead of Australia with two days left in the Test match."

Alistair Cook

Alistair Cook continued his fine form from the first test where he made over 200 and came in at 148 in the first innings of the second test.


James Anderson was a prime mover of the first day and England will be counting on a repeat performance when the Aussies  bat again.  As already mentioned Graeme Swann is hoping that the wicket will start taking spin and he will be looking to put several notches on his belt.  Having not shone particularly in the previous test is certainly time for him to make his mark.


A total of 38, 615 people attended the first day of play and it is estimated that more than 72,000 fans will have flocked to Adelaide Oval during the first two days of play.  Will the fans be able to raise the Aussie game sufficiently or will the tourists declare at the start of day 4 hoping to bowl the Aussies out before rain declares another draw!

The Tension Builds over World Cup 2018 FIFA Vote tomorrow

Latest News:  Bill Clinton flies into Zurich to support the USA bid for the World Cup Football tournament 2022 which is also been decided on Thursday.  

Last rounds of Lobbying in Zurich today!

Whilst Bill Clinton "The USA's Heavy" flies in, Russian President Vladimir Putin decides to stay away!!  The England "heavies" include a Prince, a Prime Minister and a King (David Beckham).  So how concerned with "sport" are we - or is this just another political joust?

Russian Premier Vladimir Putin said Fifa had been the victim of a smear campaign and should be left to make its decision "in peace and without any outside pressure".

This was probably in response to the BBC Panorama programme on Monday which exposed the corruption behind this type of vote.  Nicolas Leoz, Issa Hayatou and Ricardo Teixeira took the money from a sport marketing firm awarded lucrative World Cup rights, Panorama alleges. 

Mr Hayatou, vice-president of football governing body Fifa, said money that the BBC's Panorama alleged was a bribe was in fact paid to the Confederation of African Football (Caf)  as part of a sponsorship deal with sports marketing firm ISL.

However, although Mr Hayatou now claims a totally innocent reason for the money, the BBC claim that they repeatedly asked Mr Hayatou to give his version of the story and he declined to reply.   Perhaps he thought it would all blow over or that it was unimportant.  If indeed there are innocent and justifiable reasons for the money then why did he allow it to get so far out of hand!

Whilst all the 2018 contenders do their last bit of lobbying those bidding for 2022 are making their presentations.  Australia, the United States, South Korea, Japan and Qatar all made formal presentations with former United States president Bill Clinton backing his nation's bid and former footballing star Frenchman Zinedine Zidane endorsing Qatar's bid due to his Arab ancestry.