Guess I need to pack in more warm clothing... Or else, shall just bundle up in everything that I brought, that should ease the burden on the backpack... Then I shall just waddle around...

Winter reluctant to leave Europe by Sean Batty

It’s the 21st of March, the first official day of spring, but much of Europe has been struggling with wintry weather for the last few days as winter brings a sting in its tail.

Most of the UK has had snow and strong winds over the past few days; In Scotland heavy snow showers have caused several road accidents. As an addition to this strong winds blew which caused many of the main ferry crossings in the northwest of the country to be cancelled.

Even in Tenerife heavy snow caused problems. Earlier this week 12 people were trapped in their cars in Las Canada del Teide after heavy snow hit the area. On the Spanish mainland over 20cm of snow fell on the Basque region, cutting off road links to several villages. Elsewhere heavy rain sparked flooding, and high winds drove huge waves onto the Santander coast smashing railings and moving parked cars.

In parts of Switzerland up to 37cm of snow fell in a matter of hours on Tuesday afternoon. In neighbouring Austria nearly half a metre of snow fell in some parts, cutting power to around 40,000 people as power lines came down.

Despite the chaos caused by the wintry spell; this may come as welcome news for those heading to the Alpine slopes during the Easter break.