Hurricane Wilma is threatening to hit the Florida Keys soon. With wind speeds of 282 km/h and gust of up to 343 km/h, parts of the Florida Keys have already started to evacuate. The storm, which has so far killed 11 in its wake, is expected to arrive in Florida by Saturday. [CNN] It has turned quickly from a category 2 into a category 5 as it passes through the Gulf of Mexico and is the 12th Hurricane this season, a new record. The region is still reeling from a death toll exceeding 1,000 dead after Hurricane Stan hit Cuba, Guatemala and Mexico last month. Weather prospects look bleak for the UK too as meteorologists predict an extremely harsh winter. Describing the warning as an “Amber Alert”, Chief Meteorologist Ewen McCallum told the BBC he did not wish to scaremonger, but to ensure forward planning. London Mayor Ken Livingstone warned that London and the South East could face the worst winter since 1962-1963, when Britain was frozen from Boxing Day until April with an average temperature of 0.2C. And if that wasn’t enough, the UK government is currently braced for an outbreak of bird-flu and a possible pandemic. And as more cases of the virus were reported in Turkey, Russia and Romania, Jack Straw made statements in front of an ill chosen backdrop depicting flocks of swans. Britain holds the EU Presidency and the backdrop display had been designed prior to the recent outbreak. He said the “EU was responding swiftly”. And in Wales, duck hunters have been asked to test their quarry for the virus to check if indeed it has spread to Britain’s shores. [BBC]
[20:23 GMT 19/10/2005]
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