is it the same? it's real snow. is it the same? it's exactly the same as real snow. once you've made it all how do you transported to the film set? we initially shovel it into a roughage rated truck and reset the tablature at the perfect abbey church you keep it in top condition. —— we set the temperature. the people want to use real orfake snow? temperature. the people want to use real or fake snow? they want to use real or fake snow? they want to use real but fake snow is faster. you can lie in this all day and you won't get an ammonia. —— pneumonia. thank you so much for showing us how this is no is manufactured here. for now, where is nick? heavy snow in february led to avalanches in afghanistan and the french alps, both resulting in several fatalities. sarah travelled to austria where heavy snow has meant predicting avalanches is especially important. every year hundreds and thousands of people descend here to the alps

looking for someone to fund, but for the thrill seekers and especially those who like to go off path, avalanches are big threat. the main methods of detection date back decades and is not a computer in sight. i put the shovel on the top andi sight. i put the shovel on the top and i pound like 30 times with different intensity. now, here we can see the first crack. after the 27th time of pounding... you are saying it took quite a few times for you to pound this and get this crack? if it had been fewer times you would have said, don't ski here? yes. they are concerned about two key danger

patterns for avalanches. a weak ground level layer and forecast winds leaving fresh powder around. but this team is a i—piece skiers are protected. they have the avalanche barriers, they have in the morning there avalanche commission who is opening the runs or com pletely who is opening the runs or completely closing them if it's u nsafe. completely closing them if it's unsafe. off piste skiers and snowboarders are most at risk. there are high—tech agents that can help save anyone caught up in an avalanche, but the low tech tools keep people away from danger in the first place. some of the biggest weather headlines of 2017 came during a record—breaking atlantic hurricane season. record—breaking atlantic hurricane season. texas, in august, where harvey becomes the first major hurricane to hit the usa in nearly 12 years. scientists have estimated

harvey dropped 127 billion tons of water, no other tropical cyclone has produced so much rain in the usa. hurricane irma is next, slamming into the caribbean. it's getting really intense now. more than 100 people are known to have died as a result of that. it is september and there is another category five hurricane in the caribbean, maria. with ten consecutive hurricanes, this was one of the costliest atla ntic this was one of the costliest atlantic season is on record. august and a typhoon slammed into china with the same terrifying mix of district winds and torrential rain asa district winds and torrential rain as a hurricane. the pacific typhoon season was much less to —— less active than normal, but there were still several powerful systems,

including this one in vietnam in november. but the cyclone's every twist and turn his tract minute by minute. debbie g major went on for months, causing the worst floods in decades —— the deluge went on. and eastern state in india is hit ha rd est. eastern state in india is hit hardest. in total millions of people are forced from their homes and more than 1000 are killed. this is what is left behind after a flash flood in pakistan's most populous city, karachi. the monsoon rains give much—needed waterfor karachi. the monsoon rains give much—needed water for crops they a lwa ys much—needed water for crops they always come with a human cost. in september the weather in space was as the malta was as it was on earth. so much so that it led to radio blackouts. nassar recorded the biggest solarflare for a radio blackouts. nassar recorded the biggest solar flare for a decade, but why should a flair have such an impact? —— nasa. we went to cambridge to get the answer. antarctica is a brilliant place to observe space? it is. it's

very radio quiet, so we can pick up radio signals in the antarctic which we can't do elsewhere. we detect a special radio waves and those charged particles pose a risk of damage to satellites. in fact they are called killer electrons because they've been known to kill spacecraft in the past. one of the largest solar flare is ever to be witnessed was an event named after the british astronomer who observed it in 1859. he sketched what he saw on the sun, telegraph systems went haywire worldwide. scientists have estimated that something similar today could cost billions or trillions, given now increasing reliance on satellite technology. colour—coded here, you can see the radiation belts, the regions of high energy charged particles, electrons, that are trapped in the earth's magnetic field. the gps satellites fly pretty much through the heart of

this radiation belts, where the radiation is most intense. ideally you want satellites to be stationed in between the belts? is the gap between inner and outer belt where the radiation is lower, there are periods where that region gets filled with high energy charged particles and that's a high risk period. and that can have a big impact on daily life here on earth? well, if you think that we rely more and more on our satellites for mobile phones, for tv, for internet, for all kinds of communications, banking, that kind of stuff, it's really important major part of our life in the modern world. so next time you gazed skywards or pick up your smartphone, just think how seemingly small changes in the sun could cause sudden and drastic changes to the way you live your life. november marked 150 years of the shipping forecast. the shipping forecast for the next 12 hours. produced by the met office on behalf

of the maritime and coastguard agency, it's believed to be the longest running forecast of its kind in the world. that crucial forecast data is produced daily here at the met office. there was just data is produced daily here at the met office. there wasjust a feeling that there was too much risk of loss of life... i was shown the first weather charts from under 50 years ago. what they did rather cleverly was basically put pins through the paper, the kind of sea just about this little pinpricks here that meant they were also looking at the same information in the same place. you can see how they had a change from these maps the very detailed maps. it was known as the storm warning service, but then was known asa warning service, but then was known as a shipping forecast. the shipping forecast is not just as a shipping forecast. the shipping forecast is notjust for mariners but it also listens to buy hundreds of thousands of us every on radio 4. occasional rain, good, occasionally moderate... that the flavour of the

bulletin which is all past four times a day. at 5:20am it needs to be exactly nine minutes long, so on a calm day i can take my time in describing the weather conditions for the 31 different sea areas, whereas on a stormy day i have to speak much quicker in order to fit all that information into the same minute window. storm warnings in october as the re m na nts of storm warnings in october as the remnants of hurricane ophelia hit ireland in the uk. ophelia was the easternmost major hurricane ever recorded in the atlantic. this roof was ripped from the roof in ireland. the government here called the situation national emergency. and ophelia had a stranger side to it, turning the sky and eerie orange because of saharan dust swept up on its path to the uk. but when it comes to air pollution, this is just about as bad as it gets. in november, delhi, and the smog so

thick and toxic it is set to produce a text of equivalent to 50 cigarettes a day. in the usa, more tropical rain and flooding and this remarkable view opera house being swept along the river in new hampshire, of tropical storm philip heading —— to the east coast of the us. but in california, fire, as months of hot and dry weather followed last week —— last winter's record rain, creating wildfire crisis. in december fires record rain, creating wildfire crisis. in decemberfires hit the south near los angeles. the largest burning an area the size of new york. in the uk, storm caroline arrived. scotland bears the brunt with winds of up to 90 kilometres per hour, but cold air that follows is felt across the uk, blanketing large areas of snow. the most in seven years. large areas of snow. the most in seven years. not everyone is a fan of snow. but if it is the very first

time you've seen it we can't help but be excited, even if you are a dog. truffle, the yorkshire cocker spaniel puppy, trying to get to grips with the white stuff. and that's it for this time from our weather world winter wonderland. the highlights from our previous programmes, go to our website. there's one thing i want to know about fake and real snow. which is the best for a snowball fight? let's find out! bring it on! 0k. they are quite hard! yours are harder! come on! you aren't even trying! that's right in my ear! i got you back! you deserved that one. sorry, that must have hurt. fake snow is the only chance of

seeing snow fake snow is the only chance of seeing snow over fake snow is the only chance of seeing snow over the next few days. the weather stays very mild. a lot of cloud around and turning breezy in the run—up to christmas. we'll have heavy rain to come, especially in western scotland, that could cause a couple of issues into the run—up to the big day. high pressure still to the south of the uk. this westerly winds dragging on a cloud of the atlantic. another rain bearing weather front approaching the north—west of scotland. our bricks of rain moving across the northern isles in particular. a lot of cloud around but perhaps not as murky as it has been over the past few. that's on account of the slightly stronger winds. into saturday most of us have a straightforward cloudy day. the obvious exception in scotland, where the rain moves on, perhaps bringing rain later in the day. it stronger

winds there is the chance of seeing a few breaks in the cloud. temperatures 10— 12 degrees. saturday night into the early hours of christmas eve we will have outbreaks of rain turning heavier in western parts of scotland. the rain coming along impulses. another mild night. as we run through christmas eve and christmas day on the pressure chart can see the weather front sitting and targeting western scotland, with these pulses of heavy rain. the rainfall totals will mount up rain. the rainfall totals will mount up and we could see surface water across western scotland in the run—up to christmas day, so there is the potential for localised transport disruption. christmas eve away from the rain band there will be spots of rain in the breeze across western areas of england and wales. a lot of cloud around. a few brea ks to wales. a lot of cloud around. a few breaks to the east of high ground. staying mild. christmas day, another mild day and turning windier across england and wales. the rain moving southwards into the north of

england. the north—west of wales. tending to move away from scotland through the day. if you go high enoughin through the day. if you go high enough in the mountains of scotland, above about 500 metres elevation, you could see snow. but for the vast majority it doesn't look like a white christmas. after christmas the airgets white christmas. after christmas the air gets colder. with weather systems moving in there is the potential of getting snows say up over the high ground in the pennines and that could cause some localised transport issues as you are thinking of coming back cuts for the christmas celebrations. the stay in touch with the weather forecast, which you can do on the website or on your smartphone app. that's a weather. this is bbc news. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: the un security council unanimously backs tough new sanctions against north korea, severely restricting its ability to import oil. today, for the 10th time, this council stands united against a north korean regime which rejects

the pursuit of peace. two former fifa bosses are found guilty by a court in new york of accepting millions of dollars in bribes. a visit by britain's foreign secretary to russia to repair relations ends in public discord, as borisjohnson accuses moscow of carrying out cyber attacks. you should recognise that russian attempts to interfere in our elections and our referendums, whatever they may have been, have not been successful. also in the programme, preserving history's painful lessons. we take a look at a new interactive project, designed to record memories