World weather

Jerusalem was hit by its heaviest snowfall in ten years on Thursday, with around 5 inches of snow blanketing the city. Schools were closed and roads empty as officials advised people to stay at home.

Fire crews battle wildfires raging across parts of New South Wales and Victoria as temperatures soar to above 40C. In Tasmania dozens of homes have been destroyed.

A snowstorm sweeps from Texas to the Great Lakes, triggering tornadoes, shutting down power and leaving at least 12 people dead.

Cyclone Evan ripped through Fiji on Monday, with damaging winds and torrential rain causing flooding. Homes, roads and bridges suffered damage and 3,500 people were evacuated to emergency shelters.

Heavy rain and flooding has hit Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, leaving streets submerged with water. Drivers and pedestrians were left stranded and shops forced to close, as water levels rose.

A tornado ripped through the western suburbs of Auckland, New Zealand on Thursday, leaving three people dead and 150 homes uninhabitable. Trees were also uprooted, with heavy rain flooding roads.

Typhoon Bopha, the strongest storm to hit the Philippines this year, has left at least four people dead and 20 missing as it made landfall on the southern island of Mindanao on Tuesday.

Thousands of trucks and cars are left stranded, some for two days, on a major highway between Moscow and St Petersburg, after heavy snow hits north west Russia.

A tornado ripped through a steel plant in the port city of Taranto in southern Italy on Wednesday, leaving 20 people injured and one missing. Buildings were damaged and a dockside crane collapsed.

Hokkaido was hit by a blizzard on Tuesday as heavy snow and strong winds affected the northern Japanese island. Road, rail and airline networks were closed and 40,000 homes left without power.

A-roads shut, trains crawling to the next station and the AA gearing up to service 15,000 breakdowns on a miserable day in the UK, with almost 200 flood warnings and more rain on the way.

Heavy rain combined with strong southerly winds triggered an acqua alta (high water) in Venice, causing severe flooding which left 70 per cent of the city under water.

A nor’easter storm has hit the north east of the US, taking heavy rain, snow and gales to places that were hit by Hurricane Sandy just a week ago.

The International Space Station captured hurricane Sandy from space on Thursday. It shows the swirling cloud around the category two storm over the Caribbean. Video courtesy of NASA.

Hurricane Sandy is currently lashing the Caribbean with torrential rain, damaging winds and flash floods that have left one person dead in Jamaica.