Last weekend, a low-pressure system that had developed over the Gulf of Mexico tracked north-east across the Florida peninsula. Lashings of heavy rain and strong winds were brought to Florida during the early hours of Sunday morning, dumping up to 127mm (5in) of rain on the state in its passing.
The low-pressure system, termed a “nor’easter”, continued to track north-east, strengthening and bringing gusty winds and flash flooding to the coastal parts of the south-east US, including Georgia and South Carolina.
Rainfall totals of 75-150mm were recorded widely across coastal parts of the two states, including the cities of Savannah and Charleston. Higher amounts of rain were recorded to the north-east of Charleston, which in combination with high tide destroyed a bridge road in a small rural fishing town called McClellanville; the bridge road was the only way in and out of a neighbourhood and nearly 100 people were stranded.
In South Korea, a cold snap has been in force over the past few days. The temperatures on Thursday morning were the coldest so far, plummeting to -14.4C (6F), and feeling like -22C, making this the most intense cold snap of the winter so far. However, Seoul was considerably milder than other regions; Daegwallyeong Pass had temperatures of -18.4 C and it fell as low as -24.7C in the northern county of Cheorwon.
The island of Jeju also experienced significant snowfall, at rates as high as 5cm an hour, allowing close to 60cm of snow to accumulate in mountainous regions.
Further snowfall is forecast on Saturday but temperatures should start to return closer to average next week. This contrasts with the unusually warm conditions earlier in the month, with Seoul recording its second warmest December day at 16.8Con the 8th.
Moscow also received heavy snowfall, with one of the worst snowstorms of the past six decades last Friday. The blizzard, named Vanya, left more than 20cm of accumulated snow in just 24 hours, which is more than one-fifth of the average December snowfall for the city. Under strong winds the snow started to drift, accumulating up to 49cm in parts of the city, causing widespread travel disruption.
