Clocks go back and winter starts

The clocks have gone back on the European continent and winter has arrived, all on the same day. There were wintry scenes on Sunday lunchtime in the centre of Moscow, after up to six centimetres of snow fell. Forecasters have been warning of the longest cold snap for 20 years and it seems their predictions could come true.

It was the same story in the alpine region of France. Snowfall in the region of Isère was quite heavy, up to 40 centimetres in places. Here they are used to it, albeit not quite so early.

Snow has also fallen across most of Switzerland – just a week after record high October temperatures were recorded in some valleys. One person was slightly injured in an eight-car shunt in the western canton of Fribourg. The road was closed for several hours.

Meanwhile, in Venice, the unseasonable weather led to a much more familiar problem. The heavy snow fell as rain, leaving 30 percent of the historic city centre under water. But that didn’t put the tourists off – they just had to get their feet wet.

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