Amber Snow Warnings Issued In UK; Record Cold Continues In Northern India; China Breaks 35 Monthly Snow Records; America's Powder; SSW; Big (X-Flare) Sunspot Turns To Face Earth

From end to end, the sunspot group stretches more than 200,000 km (124,000 miles) with at least 4 dark cores larger than Earth.

Amber Snow Warnings Issued In UK

Amber warnings for snow and ice have been issued by the UK Met Office.

Some 6+ inches is forecast across the warning areas, with more than a foot possible on higher ground. Strong easterly winds will result in deep snow drifts.

The "persistent and at times heavy" snow is expected to bring widespread travel disruption, the Met Office has warned, adding it was "safer not to drive in these conditions". There may also be delays and cancellations of flights, the agency said.

Power cuts are possible, and there is a good chance of some rural communities being temporarily cut off.

As well as the amber warnings, there are a host of yellow warnings spanning much of the country, for both snow and ice:

Record Cold Continues In Northern India

Thermometers took another step down across the likes of Jammu and Kashmir, northern India on Thursday.

Srinagar, the capital of J&K, bottomed out at -5.2C (22.6F), the city's lowest February reading in a decade and one 4.8C below the multidecadal norm.