What a crazy week! we started off with a focus still very much on the horrible Northern Hemisphere Winter, as it continued to bring snow, freezing conditions and flooding to several countries.
Check out this special CNN report on what’s causing all the crazy weather – from the US (drought in California and snow in Texas) to Russia (strangely tropical conditions in Sochi!).

The UK was in the firing line at first, with heavy rains causing huge logistical problems for commuters in Southern England, with the country’s Environment Agency warning that flood risk will continue for at least another week.
An elderly passenger died Friday aboard the British-based cruise ship MS Marco Polo after it was hit by a “freak wave during adverse sea conditions,” according to the ship’s owner, Cruise & Maritime Voyages.
The rogue wave struck as the ship made its way into the English Channel en route from the Azores to its home port in Tilbury, southeast England, it said.

Both Japan and Korea were also in the firing line, with several prefectures in the eastern part of Japan reporting deaths, as well as severe transport delays and disruptions from heavy snows.
The police have confirmed at least 11 deaths caused by the snowstorm across northeast Japan.
More than a thousand people are reported to be injured from incidents caused by the heavy snow.

In Korea, meanwhile, there were horrific scenes when a roof collapsed at a resort retreat for college freshmen, killing 10 people and injuring more than 100, South Korea’s National Emergency Management Association said.
Two of those hurt suffered heavy injuries but their lives are not in danger, officials said.
For hours, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that people were trapped, as rescuers rushed to the resort building in the southern city of Gyeongju.

Staying abroad, after a series of sinkholes springing up around the UK and Europe recently, we thought we’d give our readers a bit of a “Sinkhole 101” with this article, answering the seemingly obvious question – what are sinkholes?

A little closer to home, and Australia has finally been on the end of some wet weather – and plenty of it – but you know what they say about too much of a good thing…
In central Queensland flooding rains hit Alpha and Jochmus with 160mm and 147mm in under 24 hours respectively.
This was their heaviest rains in six years, leading to localised flooding.
Fruther south, Roma and St George both had their wettest days in two years with just over 50mm by 9am this morning.
The culprit for the heavy rain is a low pressure trough that is stretching from the Gulf Country to the Darling Downs, with areas of rain and storms across those districts.

Back home, and this week saw some crazy scenes out of Wellington, with dense fog rolling in to cover much of the city, and ground thousands of would-be air travellers on Wednesday and Thursday.
The fog began rolling in about 6pm Wednesday, and by 8:30pm about 10 flights had been affected.
Things became worse on Thursday, before eventually clearing after lunchtime – but not before causing widespread frustration. 

The Summer Easterlies are here, due to the position of many anticyclones.
Find out why Philip Duncan is so excited about them, here.

And finally, check out the outlook for your corner of the world with Philip’s latest weather video, here!

– Remember, you can drop us a line in the comments section below, or check us out on Facebook!

– Drew Chappell for weatherwatch.co.nz and Country TV