Flurries hit southeast Australia as towns record their first-ever summer snowfalls | Newstalk 1010

CANBERRA, Australia - Australia is following its second-hottest year on record with extraordinary snow flurries in its southeastern alpine region, where some towns have recorded their first-ever summer snowfalls.

15 Foot Snow Drifts in the Cairngorms, Flooded Roads in the Southern Uplands

The central Highland region which has recieved a lot of snow now contend with 10 to 15 foot drifts across roads and through towns as the Atlantic winds blow in, forcing the closure of the Cairgorm Mountain Ski Centre.

Climate change must be based on cold facts | Mail Online

Little wonder scepticism about manmade climate change is growing.

The debate over the future of our planet and the need to cut pollution is of the greatest importance.

That is why it must be based on fact - not unscientific propaganda.

Forced to choose eating or heating, family burns furniture to keep warm | Money | The Guardian

Recently, she turned to a less conventional remedy for the sub-zero temperatures. Completely out of money for gas, she took apart a shelf unit to use as fuel in her fireplace. "I figured I needed it more for heat than storage," she said. "My boyfriend came into the garden because he heard me out there with a saw."
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Research by Age Concern has shown that, despite government relief, one in five older people skip meals to save money for heating. Tonight the charity urged ministers to do more to ease pressure forcing elderly people into the "cruel choice" between food or warmth.

On Wednesday last week, Northamptonshire county council announced a serious case review into the deaths of Jean and Derek Randall, a couple believed to be in their 70s whose bodies were found in their frozen home. Their cause of death is unclear but neighbours told a local radio station the couple were relying on a single electric heater and the electric hob rings on their cooker for warmth.

"It's completely inappropriate in 21st-century Britain that pensioners should experience such an ordeal and die such tragic deaths," said the couple's Labour MP, Sally Keeble.

Chris Mould, director of the Trussell Trust, said people in poverty were more likely to use expensive electric heaters and pre-payment gas meters. Aside from higher bills, the Arctic climate has brought with it other expected costs, he said. "We're seeing a lot of people who are in a crisis triggered by the cold weather. Broken boilers. Broken cars. Things temporarily break down and cost money, and these incidents can tip people into crisis. It's sort of sadly obvious."