An area of low pressure moving along the US-Canada border brought heavy snowfall to parts of western Canada at the weekend. A weather warning has been issued for the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan for 150-250mm (6-10in) of snow.
As the weather system moves, it is expected to bring further snow to eastern parts of the country early this week. Pressure building after the snowfall is expected trap cold air from the north, triggering severe frost.
The temperature is likely to struggle to rise above -20C in parts of Saskatoon, which is more than 15C (59F) below the average for this time of year. Towards the weekend and into next week, the cold air is forecast to push southwards into the US.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is braced for heavy rain as an area of low pressure, which developed off the coast of the Philippines last week, moves north-westwards.
Although it is not expected to intensify into a tropical storm, which requires sustained winds of 39-73 mph (63-117 km/h), it is likely to cause disruption owing to prolonged heavy rain.
A red weather warning has been issued for thunderstorms and 100-150mm of rain in 24 hours. After the low pressure system has swept through the country, it is projected to move towards the east coast of India, possibly causing further disruption.
At the weekend, swaths of north-western Europe experienced a sharp rise in temperatures as Storm Bert ended a spell of wintry weather. Paris, which had several centimetres of snow last week, recorded minimum temperatures in the mid-teens on Sunday, closer to its July average minimum than the November norm.
In Santon Downham, a village in eastern England, the maximum temperature rose from 2.7C on Thursday with snowy conditions to 18.7C in only three days. Some weather stations in north-western Europe recorded temperatures lifting from freezing to well above the seasonal average within 24-36 hours.
Over the next few days, South Africa is also expected to experience a significant increase in temperatures. On Monday, the east of the country will be 5-10C above the seasonal average, reaching 36-39C in places. However, with heavy rain expected to move through eastern areas on Wednesday – with up to 30mm in places – temperatures are forecast to plunge to 15-20C, about 5-7C below normal.
