Scotland’s Cold Start To 2026 Drags On; California Snowstorm Turns Deadly; Alps And Pyrenees Buried; Fresh Snow Hits Japan; + Italy To Strip Carbon Costs

Northern Hemisphere snow cover is on the march...

Scotland’s Cold Start To 2026 Drags On

Scotland has yet to reach 12C (54F) in 2026. That delay is now the longest in 40 years.

The last time it took this long was 1986, when the first 12C didn’t arrive until March 4.

That year’s cold winter actually dragged deep into spring, with 15C (59F) not recorded until late April. It was followed by a subdued summer, part of a run of cooler-than-average years in the mid-1980s.

This year, the usual brief surges of mild Atlantic air have been absent. The country has been persistently chilly.

That may change this weekend as a pulse of milder Atlantic air moves in. Whenever temperatures finally do touch 12C, it will formally confirm 2026 as Scotland’s slowest start to the year, thermally speaking, since the mid-1980s.

California Snowstorm Turns Deadly

The initial storm cycle has now ended at Donner Summit, closing out three days of extreme winter conditions that buried vehicles, shut Interstate 80, and pushed snowfall rates into the top tier of modern Sierra events.

The peak arrived on Day 2.