With the first few days of the new year being described as “perfect sales-shopping weather”, there seems to be no end in sight to the mild weather.

Many people were waking up in fear of flooding this Christmas morning, as downpours of heavy rain continued to bring misery to parts of Britain.

ASH from an erupting Icelandic volcano could reach northern Scotland by tomorrow and parts of Britain, France and Spain by Thursday or Friday if the eruption continues at the same intensity, airlines were warned yesterday.

A FEW weeks ago I wrote an article for this page about unusual garden birds and mentioned a photograph sent in by a reader of a snipe feeding on a suburban front lawn.

The big freeze gripping the country will get worse this week with snow spreading inland and some temperatures plunging as low as minus 20C, forecasters warned.

Britain’s two biggest airports were suffering major flight disruption today - and a string of others were closed – after the return of the Icelandic ash cloud caused chaos for thousands of passengers.

The state’s main airports will remain open today but some along the west coast will be restricted from mid-afternoon due to the volcanic ash cloud.

Most Irish airports are set to operate normally until 4pm tomorrow, aviation authorities said this evening, however warning that there is an “increased risk” of disruption from the volcanic ash cloud.

Irish airports are to remain open until at least midnight, though volcanic ash clouds over other air space could continue to disrupt flights to parts of Europe and across the Atlantic, officials said today.

Thousands of flights took off from European airports today after a week of unprecedented disruptions, but shifting winds sent a new plume of volcanic ash over Scandinavia.

FLOODING became a new threat for farmers this week, after nearly three weeks of sub-zero temperatures throughout the country.

SOMEBODY asked me the other day “What’s a ferret?”

Large parts of the UK were today waking up to a blanket of snow as an Arctic front swept across the country in the first prolonged cold snap of the winter.

Torrential rain caused flooding chaos throughout Britain today with emergency services stretched to the limit.

C&C is unlikely to make a play for Scottish whisky maker Glenmorangie which has come on the market with a stg£220m plus (€330m) price tag.

THE policeman who ran away with a 15-year-old girl to Scotland was yesterday arrested on suspicion of the abduction, West Mercia Police said.

Fisheries ministers disagreed today on compromise proposals that seek to save cod from near extinction in EU waters without driving thousands of fishermen into bankruptcy.

Gas pipeline workers in Northern Scotland have uncovered a 3,500-year-old Bronze Age cremation cemetery.

A rare bird of prey has been found dead after ingesting a fatal dose ofpoison, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said today.

Severe weather has hit Scotland, northern England, the Midlands and East Anglia, making many roads impassable.