:00:00. > :00:00.Now BBC News, Nick Miller finds out how the Snowdon Railway keeps
:00:00. > :00:11.running despite the extreme weather. This time on the weather world we
:00:12. > :00:16.are going up in the world, literally into the mountains of North Wales,
:00:17. > :00:23.and our method of transport may surprise you, it is good to be quite
:00:24. > :00:28.a ride. Also: extreme storms and the battle to survive them, as global
:00:29. > :00:32.temperatures set new records. Winter fights back in the USA, but not in
:00:33. > :00:39.the Arctic. It is still not cold enough on top of the world. Plus,
:00:40. > :00:44.while the winds, how not to get caught out and extreme weather. I
:00:45. > :00:49.will be here at this nature reserve in Kent are taking a look at how the
:00:50. > :00:53.from a quite blue sky day here in from a quite blue sky day here in
:00:54. > :00:58.Kent to the hazards of a hurricane in the Atlantic. And why everything
:00:59. > :01:01.in this Welsh field is not as it seems. The new type of sheep and
:01:02. > :01:17.what it can tell us about the weather.
:01:18. > :01:22.Welcome to weather world. This time we are in the North Wales, in
:01:23. > :01:27.Snowdonia, about to claim the highest peak in Wales, Mount
:01:28. > :01:31.Snowdon, now I am up for a bit of climbing, I am fairly fit, dressed
:01:32. > :01:34.for the part, but I have got an easier option in mind. We are about
:01:35. > :01:39.to take a ride on the historic Snowdon Mountain Railway. If you
:01:40. > :01:42.know anything about this part of the world you will know that this
:01:43. > :01:45.Railway is actually closed in the winter that I have got a special
:01:46. > :01:49.ride lined up on an engine of's train, because I'm going to find out
:01:50. > :01:54.how this Railway copes with the harsh mountain weather. When you are
:01:55. > :02:11.ready. This Railway has been taking people
:02:12. > :02:17.to the summit of Mount Snowdon since 1896. An estimated 12 million people
:02:18. > :02:21.have made that journey since then. The trains normally run from
:02:22. > :02:24.mid-March until November, but it is the weather that dictates the
:02:25. > :02:28.schedule, and they told the weather takes the mountain railway means for
:02:29. > :02:33.the maintenance teams, winter is the busiest time of year. You are the
:02:34. > :02:37.senior engineering manager of the railway here, and already we are
:02:38. > :02:42.getting a sense of the climb we have started. Yes, the railway follows
:02:43. > :02:48.the mountain, maximum gradient is one in 5.5, we have just come up one
:02:49. > :02:53.in 6.2, it alters as we go over the terrain, but it is a steep railway.
:02:54. > :03:03.And we're going 4.95 mph. Mountain railway weather. They too must clash
:03:04. > :03:07.a little bit. They do. Obviously, wind, rain, snow, they all impact on
:03:08. > :03:12.our maintenance activities. Throughout the year. What is the
:03:13. > :03:16.worst element. In the operating season? Wind. We have wind limits
:03:17. > :03:22.for operating trains. And in the winter it is heavy rain, and the
:03:23. > :03:24.lower mountain, and snow on the upper reaches.
:03:25. > :03:27.So you are doing a lot of maintenance and I will see some of
:03:28. > :03:31.that take place and hopefully get stuck in myself.
:03:32. > :03:35.The more the merrier. Looking forward to it. Winter has
:03:36. > :03:44.arrived in Snowdonia but there is no doubt that the main weather story of
:03:45. > :03:48.2016 has been heaped. Record heat. Hurricane Matthew slammed into Haiti
:03:49. > :03:53.in October, killing hundreds as it cut a path from here to the
:03:54. > :03:59.south-east United States. A massive storm, fuelled by warmer than
:04:00. > :04:07.average ocean water. In the Pacific, in September, Taiwan feels the force
:04:08. > :04:12.of the strongest typhoon since 2013. In October, in South Korea, cars are
:04:13. > :04:18.swept down flooded streets in the strongest cyclone there in four
:04:19. > :04:23.years. Rescues in Spain, in December, animal, and human, as
:04:24. > :04:30.torrential downpours lead to flash flooding. But in South America,
:04:31. > :04:35.Rivers run dry. Not enough rain has caused Bolivia to declare a state of
:04:36. > :04:40.emergency facing its worst drought in 25 years. Israel, in November,
:04:41. > :04:45.fighting the flames, as a two-month drought, and arson, led to
:04:46. > :04:50.wildfires. Australia, and beach-goers in Melbourne struggle
:04:51. > :04:54.against strong winds whipped up by approaching thunderstorms. Several
:04:55. > :04:56.people died from a rare thunderstorm asthma in November, after suffering
:04:57. > :05:04.breathing problems from pollen carried by the wind. In the UK the
:05:05. > :05:08.first named a storm of the autumn, Angus, struck in November, wind in
:05:09. > :05:12.the Irish Sea was so strong and this very was stuck there overnight until
:05:13. > :05:17.it was safe enough to dock. Not ideal if it is your maiden voyage.
:05:18. > :05:19.My first time on a boat. We were on there overnight until it was safe
:05:20. > :05:22.enough to dock. Not ideal if it is your maiden voyage. My first time on
:05:23. > :05:39.a boat. We were on there for 24 hours. Sleeping. It was lumpy and it
:05:40. > :05:43.made you feel sick. But I am glad I am off. It is impossible to link one
:05:44. > :05:45.whether extreme to a warming world but scientists say that extreme
:05:46. > :05:48.events are more likely and well before the end of 2016 the year was
:05:49. > :05:51.labelled odds on to become the warmest on record. We have just
:05:52. > :05:54.stepped off the train to see the first piece of work happening on the
:05:55. > :05:56.line. Mike, what are you doing? This is a storage facility for tools,
:05:57. > :06:01.equipment for the railway. To make it safe we are building a platform,
:06:02. > :06:05.and a storage area on the left, and another platform on the right-hand
:06:06. > :06:09.side. And this all needs to happen fairly quickly, doesn't it? Because
:06:10. > :06:20.you have time and weather to think about.
:06:21. > :06:25.We are open again on March and we cannot have any work on the railway
:06:26. > :06:27.from March. It is obvious we quite mild at the moment but we have had
:06:28. > :06:29.freezing temperatures and we cannot lay concrete in freezing
:06:30. > :06:32.temperatures, when it is heavy rain at all wash everything out. Can I
:06:33. > :06:36.get stuck in? By all means, Nigel needs a hand. OK, let's go and find
:06:37. > :06:40.him. Nigel, what do you want me to do? If you just grab hold of that
:06:41. > :06:46.were there, please, mate, and over the top the... That way? I had
:06:47. > :06:50.upside down? But there's a good start. While I
:06:51. > :06:53.try to get the hang of cement work, Sarah looks back at the Atlantic
:06:54. > :07:01.hurricane season. Here I am at the Faversham nature
:07:02. > :07:04.reserve in Kent, it is a great spot for capturing a glimpse of wintering
:07:05. > :07:07.birds that are just settling into their home now for the winter
:07:08. > :07:12.season. Later in the programme we will have more analysis about how
:07:13. > :07:15.the weather impacts migratory birds, earlier this year there was some
:07:16. > :07:19.incredible radar footage of songbirds that appeared to be
:07:20. > :07:23.trapped right inside the eye of hurricane Matthew. Hurricane Matthew
:07:24. > :07:27.was of course the strongest and the most deadly storm of the season. It
:07:28. > :07:36.initially formed off the West Coast of Africa before moving across the
:07:37. > :07:38.Atlantic and strengthening, for a time, two major category five
:07:39. > :07:42.hurricane in the Caribbean. It has been a particularly active her again
:07:43. > :07:45.season this year, partly down to the declining El Nino effect and the
:07:46. > :07:49.return to more neutral conditions in the Pacific. Let's take a look at
:07:50. > :07:53.how the El Nino Southern oscillation has affected this year's hurricane
:07:54. > :07:59.season, and why it has been so intense, especially compared to
:08:00. > :08:04.recent years. In the year up to May 2016, the NSO was in the El Nino,
:08:05. > :08:08.all warm, phase. The warming of the equatorial Pacific often lead to
:08:09. > :08:12.stronger vertical wind sure in the Atlantic, wind shear refers to the
:08:13. > :08:16.changing wind speed, and/ or direction, with height in the
:08:17. > :08:20.atmosphere. Stronger wind shear leads to weaker hurricanes and makes
:08:21. > :08:24.landfall less likely. However, since made of the Pacific has been
:08:25. > :08:31.cooling, becoming more neutral, and is now entering a week phase, or a
:08:32. > :08:35.cool place. Producing the wind shear and hence promoting stronger and
:08:36. > :08:39.more frequent hurricanes. Another major factor in the summer was a big
:08:40. > :08:43.blocking area of high pressure, feeling warm and moist air over the
:08:44. > :08:47.western Atlantic and warming the waters there, by as much as 45
:08:48. > :08:52.degrees, compared to the average. These warmer waters have provided
:08:53. > :08:56.the fuel to power these huge, formidable hurricanes, that have
:08:57. > :09:06.formed in the region this year. So the very act hurricane season of
:09:07. > :09:09.2016 has now come an end. Join me later in the programme where
:09:10. > :09:12.we will take a more detailed look at some of these migratory birds and
:09:13. > :09:15.just how the weather affects their journey. This railway carries more
:09:16. > :09:19.than 130,000 passengers a year towards Snowdon summit. But some
:09:20. > :09:23.people get there the hard way. On foot. However you choose to go high,
:09:24. > :09:29.you need to respect the weather, and be fully prepared. Climbers battled
:09:30. > :09:33.fierce winds in the Scottish Highlands, in footage released to
:09:34. > :09:41.show just how wild the weather can get. This high, this exposed, it is
:09:42. > :09:46.too late to simply turn back. We have just stepped away from the
:09:47. > :09:50.railway and we can see the Snowdon Peak, here in the Snowdonia Park
:09:51. > :09:54.warden's office, you are one of the wardens, Rhys Roberts, and you are
:09:55. > :09:57.going to show me exactly what I need to be fully prepared to attack a
:09:58. > :10:01.hill or a mountain. So you know, mountains are quite
:10:02. > :10:05.cold, you need warm layers, preferably a base layer first, then
:10:06. > :10:10.a mid-layer, something like a fleece, maybe even two, it is quite
:10:11. > :10:24.cold, and some comfortable, warm trousers as well. I have got jeans
:10:25. > :10:27.on, they are not selling the right thing are they? Not the best, they
:10:28. > :10:29.get cold when they are wet and they are reasonably uncomfortable, so
:10:30. > :10:31.something that will give you one when you are wet is preferable. You
:10:32. > :10:34.also need waterproof layers. Jackets, trousers, I would also take
:10:35. > :10:36.some hats and gloves with me just in case I get wet. Good idea, the right
:10:37. > :10:40.footwear? You would have those boots, at the end there, just
:10:41. > :10:43.generic walking boots. And these are winter boots, they have a stiffer
:10:44. > :10:47.soul. They can support crampons as well which gives you more grip on
:10:48. > :10:53.the ice, they have an essential bit of kit for any snow on the mountain.
:10:54. > :11:00.And if it is very snowy I would need one of these? Another essential
:11:01. > :11:02.piece of kit. An ice axe. It provides some sort of support
:11:03. > :11:06.walking up the mountain and if you slip it can help stop you. I want to
:11:07. > :11:09.know where I'm going but I am OK because I have lovely maps on my
:11:10. > :11:13.phone. They are a start, but you want a proper map and a compass like
:11:14. > :11:17.this. A phone can run out of battery or signal and become useless. That
:11:18. > :11:20.will never fail you. And it sounds obvious, but you need something to
:11:21. > :11:24.eat and drink on the way. Fuel is very important so make sure you pack
:11:25. > :11:33.your lunch and maybe your dinner, and someone drinks if it is called.
:11:34. > :11:35.And check the weather forecast. It sounds obvious but the weather at
:11:36. > :11:38.the top of the mount is often very different from the weather when you
:11:39. > :11:40.set off. Absolutely yes, it can be ten, 15 degrees colder on the
:11:41. > :11:44.mountain than done in the valley, and check the mountain forecast as
:11:45. > :11:48.well because it can be very different to the generic forecast.
:11:49. > :11:52.If I come back and climb in Snowdonia I will, get you as my
:11:53. > :11:56.personal guide, and I promise I will not wear jeans.
:11:57. > :12:04.Still to come: fake flock. What electric sheep can tell us about the
:12:05. > :12:08.weather that we will she cannot. Captured on camera, by BBC weather
:12:09. > :12:13.Watchers, the building of the Queensferry crossing in Scotland,
:12:14. > :12:17.through the changing seasons. In November, Weather Watch celebrated
:12:18. > :12:22.its first anniversary and the number of sky snappers now totals more than
:12:23. > :12:26.hundred and 30,000. For many it is about the beauty of the sky and the
:12:27. > :12:31.scenery around them, and sharing its online. Many people just walk along,
:12:32. > :12:36.with their head down, and they don't look up, they don't see the call,
:12:37. > :12:39.they don't see the sunrise, the sunset, the rainbows, and they
:12:40. > :12:45.thanked me for that, and I think that is probably the most rewarding
:12:46. > :12:53.thing. And you can become a Weather Watch by signing up/ weather Watch.
:12:54. > :12:59.We are taking a look at how the Snowdon railway copes with the
:13:00. > :13:04.amount of weather, we stopped here at the Rocky Valley platform, it is
:13:05. > :13:09.about two thirds towards the summit, the elevation, about 680 metres,
:13:10. > :13:13.already we are above some of the cloud, and you can tell how the
:13:14. > :13:17.weather has changed, it is cold, windy, and of course, all of the
:13:18. > :13:21.track has to cope with these conditions, the heavy rain, the
:13:22. > :13:25.heavy snow, and of course the big change in temperatures from one
:13:26. > :13:30.season to the next. Further up Mike is taking a look at how this piece
:13:31. > :13:33.of track is faring up. So, Mike, how are we doing this? With the system
:13:34. > :13:47.here, a measuring trolley, we will put it on the track, this is
:13:48. > :13:50.going to tell me the distance between the two rails, it is going
:13:51. > :13:53.to tell me the cross level, the height of one rail to the other, and
:13:54. > :13:56.it is going to tell me the twist and the difference. Shall I help you out
:13:57. > :13:59.with that? You can push. All right. I will just gently aged down the
:14:00. > :14:04.track. This is a fairly exposed piece of track so it must get a fair
:14:05. > :14:07.battering. This is one of our sections of track which requires
:14:08. > :14:11.constant maintenance. In the spring this will have moved, and we will
:14:12. > :14:15.come back and do some more maintenance, lifting and packing. We
:14:16. > :14:20.have moved down this short but, let's take a look at what you have
:14:21. > :14:22.learned. This is telling me we travelled 12.75 metres from where we
:14:23. > :14:35.started, telling me that at this particular
:14:36. > :14:38.point the track gauges 806.4 millimetres, and it also tells me
:14:39. > :14:40.that I have a cross level, negative, or 4.9 millimetres. That is a slight
:14:41. > :14:43.twist to one side. Does the track need any work? No, the instrument is
:14:44. > :14:46.telling me it is always intolerant? Very good. Go check some of track
:14:47. > :14:50.line. Thank you very much. We're going to get back on the train back
:14:51. > :14:53.on the move and just a moment, but before we do that it has been a cold
:14:54. > :14:58.start of the Winter here in Snowdonia, but in that direction, a
:14:59. > :14:59.long way in that direction, there is a part of the world that should be
:15:00. > :15:29.very cold, but there is a problem,. If you start removing the
:15:30. > :15:32.reflective sea ice cover than the ocean absorbs the heat instead. So
:15:33. > :15:36.what you see and instead now as winter comes, the Arctic is very
:15:37. > :15:40.one, part about this because now the ocean has to release heat again
:15:41. > :15:44.during the summer, back to the atmosphere before the ice can form.
:15:45. > :15:48.The frozen Antarctic. Records here show that sea ice has not suffered
:15:49. > :15:53.to the same degree as its northern counterpart. But even so, National
:15:54. > :16:06.Snow and ice data Centre scientists say that Antarctic sea ice shrank
:16:07. > :16:09.November low. A warming world does not mean the end of winter weather.
:16:10. > :16:12.In the USA in December, snow and ice caused damage and brought disruption
:16:13. > :16:14.to millions of people. Then there is the occasional wintery surprise.
:16:15. > :16:18.Such is here in Tokyo. Which had its first November snowfall in more than
:16:19. > :16:23.half a century. And this, from Siberia, what looks like rocks on
:16:24. > :16:26.the shore, thousands of natural snowballs. Formed from small pieces
:16:27. > :16:33.of ice rolled over large by the wind and water. We saw earlier how to
:16:34. > :16:36.properly address for the great outdoors, especially, of course, in
:16:37. > :16:40.winter, very important for humans, but you would think that sheep, with
:16:41. > :16:44.their woolly coats, would be good to go, whatever the weather. But there
:16:45. > :16:48.is a unique experiment taking place here at the foot of Snowdon which
:16:49. > :16:54.proves that they feel the weather also. Just like this one. Come on.
:16:55. > :17:00.Let's find you a friend. You are a little bit heavier than I thought
:17:01. > :17:02.you would be. You may have noticed that this is not a real sheep.
:17:03. > :17:10.Neither is this one. Thankfully, that Jones from Banks University is
:17:11. > :17:13.a real human. Why do you have fake sheep? They might be fake but they
:17:14. > :17:17.tell us a lot about real sheep and the environment experience on a
:17:18. > :17:21.farm. We have two things, we have our sheep, we also have a Met
:17:22. > :17:25.station, and the station is measuring song, plus wind, plus
:17:26. > :17:29.ambient air temperature, and those things together tell us how we she
:17:30. > :17:30.was feeling. So on a day like today when it is really windy that must
:17:31. > :17:51.have an impact on how the sheep feels. But how can you tell?
:17:52. > :17:53.It is absolutely so much colder when the wind blows, that is called
:17:54. > :17:55.wind-chill, and for warm blooded animals like us and Toshiba
:17:56. > :17:57.maintaining the core body temperature in these conditions is
:17:58. > :18:00.increasingly hard as the wind blows so what we do with his sheep is we
:18:01. > :18:02.maintain them at 39 degrees, with... This array of heaters. And we also
:18:03. > :18:05.have a microcomputer. And what the computers recording is how much
:18:06. > :18:07.energy the sheep is using to keep that temperature in the prevailing
:18:08. > :18:10.conditions. So we will pop it back in and have a look in a minute to
:18:11. > :18:14.see how much energy she is using. If I was a sheep farmer, what
:18:15. > :18:19.difference does it make to me, this research here? OK, so, for farmers,
:18:20. > :18:29.farming is essentially all about energy, we record the energy that is
:18:30. > :18:32.in that, the food that the animals eat, but there is also energy out of
:18:33. > :18:34.the equation, and whether it's a big part of that, keeping warming
:18:35. > :18:37.conditions uses an awful lot of energy. Can I do something on my
:18:38. > :18:40.farm to help my sheep keep one? Planning your farm was whether in
:18:41. > :18:42.mind, providing shelter the form of trees and hedgerows which they are
:18:43. > :18:49.animals can use could take shelter from the wind especially, and that
:18:50. > :18:54.will reduce the energy used to stay warm. So in the last few seconds she
:18:55. > :18:56.has used a 37 watts just to stay warm. And as the winner gets
:18:57. > :19:01.stronger and the air gets colder there will be more and more energy
:19:02. > :19:04.use. Thank you for showing me the project, I have become quite
:19:05. > :19:11.attached to my fake sheep. It must have a name. This is melon. Nice to
:19:12. > :19:16.meet you, melon. Now, weather and birds. Here is Sarah Lucas again.
:19:17. > :19:21.Welcome back to the nature reserve in Kent, I am joined by Graham Madge
:19:22. > :19:24.of the Met office and previously the RSPB, so Graham, this is a very
:19:25. > :19:28.idyllic and peaceful day in Kent, it is hard to imagine some of the
:19:29. > :19:31.hazards of these birds face on the long journeys, including of course
:19:32. > :19:34.the weather, earlier in the year there were some footage of some
:19:35. > :19:47.birds that appeared to be trapped right
:19:48. > :19:51.inside eye of hurricane Matthew, is this a typical kind of hazard that
:19:52. > :19:54.birds face a migratory journey? The situation is that they are crossing
:19:55. > :19:57.the path, the exact track, that many of or against it, so it is quite
:19:58. > :19:59.likely the birds to get caught up in these weather systems. In fact, we
:20:00. > :20:01.know from the records of bird-watchers and northern Europe
:20:02. > :20:04.that many birds are brought to European shores on the back of these
:20:05. > :20:07.cyclones, as they move up into the north Atlantic, so it is a very big
:20:08. > :20:10.threat that these birds face, it is a very powerful hazard that these
:20:11. > :20:12.birds have to try and cope with them their lives. So I have heard some
:20:13. > :20:15.people say that birds can actually forecast the weather. Is there any
:20:16. > :20:25.evidence or science behind this? It is a classic phrase, one swallow
:20:26. > :20:27.does not make a summer. I think the evidence for but being able to
:20:28. > :20:30.forecast the weather is probably quite thin. But what we do know is
:20:31. > :20:33.that what we do know is that those are affected by the weather, so we
:20:34. > :20:35.all now that we get weather coming from different directions, and that
:20:36. > :20:38.very often can bring birds, associated with it, so we did birds
:20:39. > :20:43.from North America turning up, in Europe, we can get those from the
:20:44. > :20:47.tropical Atlantic, for all sorts of places, so although birds might not
:20:48. > :20:50.be able to forecast the weather, by seeing interesting and exotic birds,
:20:51. > :20:58.it gives you at least an insight into what the weather has been Mike
:20:59. > :21:01.elsewhere in the northern hemisphere. Thank you so much,
:21:02. > :21:02.Graham for joining us. That is it from us here in Kent, despite unique
:21:03. > :21:15.in Snowdonia. We have come as far as we can go now
:21:16. > :21:18.on the Snowdon Railway, this is about three quarters of the way to
:21:19. > :21:21.Snowdon summit, but we cannot get any further, because number one,
:21:22. > :21:25.there is essential track were taken place, and if we did go any further
:21:26. > :21:28.we were just encounter snow on the track anyway, but before we start
:21:29. > :21:32.heading back down the mountain there is one more thing I want to show
:21:33. > :21:40.you, it is something that is crucial to the operation of the railway
:21:41. > :21:43.here, the reason I'm excited as I am a weatherman and I have found a
:21:44. > :21:45.weather station. Nearly at the top of Mount Snowdon. Mike, how
:21:46. > :21:49.important is this piece of kit for you and the railway? It is crucial,
:21:50. > :21:53.it gives us weather information, specifically wind information, for
:21:54. > :21:56.the operation of the trains in high winds we cannot operate. And how do
:21:57. > :22:01.you look at that information, when you are down in the office? This
:22:02. > :22:06.weather station brings data through a data link, we can pick this up on
:22:07. > :22:10.our computers down below, and we can get it graphically. And what is that
:22:11. > :22:14.telling you, from a screenshot of something earlier in the day? That
:22:15. > :22:18.is giving me the wind direction, the wind speed, the temperatures, and
:22:19. > :22:22.crucially, the gust speeds. Because obviously we have got an average
:22:23. > :22:27.speed here, and then we have got dust speed. A gust speeds can reach
:22:28. > :22:44.in excess 130 mph. Talking wind speeds like
:22:45. > :22:53.that, the spring. Let's get this weather station to bed then. As they
:22:54. > :22:58.get to work, and before we go, when is a rainbow not a rainbow? When it
:22:59. > :23:03.is a fork bow. This rare phenomenon was spotted in Scotland in November.
:23:04. > :23:06.Water droplets in four car much smaller than raindrops and as the
:23:07. > :23:11.sun interacts with them the result appears devoid of colour, more like
:23:12. > :23:18.a white rainbow. Still not a rainbow as we know it, but closer, this rare
:23:19. > :23:22.moon boat was England in October, as moonlight, rather than sunlight,
:23:23. > :23:26.interacts with moisture in the atmosphere. And finally, the
:23:27. > :23:30.lighting up of the sky and an imagination, the super moon, seen
:23:31. > :23:33.around the world in the November, the closest the moon has been to the
:23:34. > :23:39.earth in nearly 70 years. Which makes this lucky moment... There you
:23:40. > :23:45.go. An example of picture perfect timing.
:23:46. > :23:50.And that is it for this time on whether world. From Snowdonia,
:23:51. > :23:54.thanks to Mike, our driver, Steve, and ever one of the Snowdon railway,
:23:55. > :23:55.Snowdon summit still awaits me, but I will be back one day. I'll keep
:23:56. > :24:37.checking the forecast. Merry Christmas, let's see what the
:24:38. > :24:38.weather