this time, we have come to a winter wonderland. or have we? look very closely in the next half—hour, because all is not as it seems. so... let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. welcome to weather world! also on the programme, 2017's the storms. —— biggest. tropical deluges, floods that carry a house and everything in it. stay from the storm, near impossible escapes. —— safe. and even record rain cannot stop another wildfire crisis in california. humber, west or south—west, five or six... california. humber, west or south-west, five or six... plus, we celebrate 150 years of the shipping forecast. its distinctive tones loved by sailors and landlubbers alike. and weather, not as we know it. i will be taking a deeper look into space weather and the impact it can have here on earth. this time on the weather world, we are having some fun. we have come to are having some fun. we have come to a company in gloucestershire, snow business, which the 35 years has been making real and fake snow on demand. it is mostly for film and television. they are the biggest winter effects company in the world. some of their work includes the james bond films and star wars. later i will be looking at the materials they use to make this note. i am often meet darcy, the owner, and he is going to show me how you create a wintry scene. we've got a fairly green scene now, but we are going to transform it into something more white and wintry. i can't wait to see what it will look like stop power we going do this? we have a brand— new like stop power we going do this? we have a brand—new machine, we have some specially torn paper which locks together, we spray it with water so it sticks to anything it lands on. we can transform this into a winter scene. let's get started, then. music. this looks amazing. it is as if we have stepped in to narnia. how do you create the illusion of falling snow? for that, we have a special machine, which mixes without to create snowflakes. wow! i feel like iam in create snowflakes. wow! i feel like iamina create snowflakes. wow! i feel like i am in a snowstorm in lapland. so, creating this kind of snow is a really big isn't as. in fact, you other world leaders in winter effects. how you get into this? purely by chance. i worked for a company which made paper and a film company which made paper and a film company came along wanting a lovely, biodegradable snow. and they got us to make paper snow. it turned out quite well. so, this is artificial snow. and a little bit later on we are going to see a look at how they also make real snow here as well. this is real snow. but there is still something unusual here. our weather review of the year begins in january on greek island beaches. ra rely january on greek island beaches. rarely does arctic weather on this scale reach so far deep into europe. and the bitter temperatures brought fears for migrants, at camps such as this one in serbia, with calls for them to be moved to warmer conditions. then disaster in italy. 29 people killed in the deadliest avalanche year in a century. amazingly, some survived. rescued more than two days later. february in the uk, and storm doris blows in, with high winds and some lucky escapes. and here is another remarkable escape. this improved, as a mudslide churns up the debris of what was once somebody‘s home, a woman emerges. slowly she is able to scramble her way to help. but the flooding here did claim the lives of about 100 people in the first few months of the year. disaster in colombia in april. torrential rain sends a mudslide into the town of mocoa. more than 250 died here. in chile in january, mocoa. more than 250 died here. in chile injanuary, a different problem. drought, heat, strong winds, then fire. this was the turn of sa nta winds, then fire. this was the turn of santa 0lga, destroyed by wildfires, said to be the worst in the country's modern history. severe drought hit africa. this was somalia, where disaster was declared in february. millions across east africa started the year facing starvation and famine. in california, after years of drought, a remarkable transformation took place. flooding rain from a succession of winter storms all but obliterated the drought. so much water so quickly that car swallowing sinkholes appeared. any hope that the soaking start to the year would offer long—term relief went up in flames, as we will see later in the programme. we often showed pictures of the aurora borealis, or the northern light. this is the southern hemisphere equivalent, the aurora australis, putting on a spectacular display of new zealand in may. —— above. when and where we see the light depends on the behaviour of the sun, and trying to predict what the sun, and trying to predict what the sun, and trying to predict what the sun will be has created an emerging area of science, space weather. matt taylor has been finding out. imagine a few hours without traffic lights or your smartphone. sounds appealing, doesn't it? add to that trains, flights, your weekly shop, even money. and not just flights, your weekly shop, even money. and notjust flowers. potentially days, weeks or even months. it could become a reality. it is all down to the impact that space weather could have on things like this. satellites shown here at the science museum in london. to the purists, space weather is not strictly meteorology, but it is driven by the same thing, and that is the sun. in this case it is all about coronal mass ejections and solar flares. to tell us about those iamjoined by solar flares. to tell us about those i am joined by professor tim aubry, from the imperial college london. professor, tell us more about what solar flares and coronal mass ejection is our? most of us think of the sun is a fairly boring yellow globe in the sky. but as we study at more we realise it is a dynamic objects. solar flares are enormous releases of energy from the sun. they accelerate particles to high energies which can arrive at the and damage satellites, and they also released enormous amount of energy and coronal mass ejection is. this matter floods out through the solar system and can arrive at the and impact us on. you are the head of a mission investigating the sun? impact us on. you are the head of a mission investigating the summ impact us on. you are the head of a mission investigating the sun? it is called solar orbit, being built by the esa at the moment. we will be close —— be going closer to the sun than ever before, by seven mercury. will be measuring what comes off the summerand will be measuring what comes off the summer and travels past a spacecraft on its way towards the out. and it is the magnetic deals which are important when it comes to impact on outcome isn't it? yes. at imperial couege outcome isn't it? yes. at imperial college london building the incident which will measure those magnetic fields in space, and when those fields in space, and when those fields arrive at the out and interact with the was mac magnetic yield, and it is those interactions which dried things like the aurora and geomagnetic storms. will this help is ultimately for car space weather? solar orbit to itself not a space weather mission but it is designed to study the fundamental physics of what is going on in the sun and into planetary space and by understanding that that we hope to do better space weather forecasting in the future. thank you. we will find out later in the programme a bit more about forecasting space weather and the impact it can have here on earth. at the start of the programme i said, look very closely this time on whether world, because all is not as it seems. it might look like i have entered an icy cave, but there isn't anyice entered an icy cave, but there isn't any ice in here. and none of this is real. it is another fake wintry environment. paul is here to tell us how they made this. what materials have you used? we use a lot of different materials here. plastic, paraffin wax, recycled packaging material, litter as well. with led lighting we can bring it all together and give you the fact that you see here. the materials that are used to make something look wintry in film used to make something look wintry infilm and used to make something look wintry in film and television, they have evolved over time, haven't they? in the very early days of black and white film they didn't have any other materials at all. they had to wait for it to snow. that was time—consuming, and it was also dangerous. three members died from the cold while they were filming. that wasn't good. later they baronet with different materials. moral and hardy used painted cornflakes, which was effective. either time we got to with them was —— wizard of oz, they we re with them was —— wizard of oz, they were using spaces. 0bviously that is really bad, but they didn't know it was dangerous at the time. you are things which i did for the environment and good for people. what are the good materials going forward ? what are the good materials going forward? we are developing materials like this, which is a glitter, which is made from cellulose. so within a couple of weeks or so that will biodegrade. now, normal glitter, which has been banned in cosmetic use by the government, would just wash off your body when you come back from your festival, down the drain and out to see where it gets eaten by plankton and fish and u nfortu nately by eaten by plankton and fish and unfortunately by us again. this has —— this is gone in a week or two. unfortunately by us again. this has —— this is gone in a week or twom has the texture of icing sugar but you can see the glitter. what else are you using? we are using things like this, which is part of frost. this is pure cellulose. you could eat it if you wanted to, though it wouldn't taste nice. 0nce eat it if you wanted to, though it wouldn't taste nice. once that washes into the soil that completely biodegrade. it is no more harmful to the environment then leaves. of course, the least harmful thing to the environment is real snow. we haven't had much of that yet, but it can be made on demand, and will be finding out about that later on. now, from snow to extreme heat. 0ur weather review of the year continues with a scorching summer in southern europe. wildfires that it houses being evacuated from campsites in france, spending the night on beaches near st tropez. portugal in june, and a catastrophic forest fire kills more than 50 people. it is the country's worst disaster for more than a quarter of a century. when a flashlight rages through a major city, disaster strikes. flashlight rages through a major city, disasterstrikes. in august, flashlight rages through a major city, disaster strikes. in august, a massive downpour sends muddy water surging through the streets of sierra leone in west africa. and then a mountainside collapses in an avalanche of mud, burying whole communities as they slept. hundreds of people killed, thousands losing their homes. now, more snow, and your bbc weather watcher pictures of the wintry weather which swept across the uk in early december. the most widespread december snow since 2010. you can become a bbc weather watcher by signing up at the bbc website. still to come on weather world, we had to the alps to discover how sometimes, the old ways are still the best, especially when it comes to predicting an avalanche. this time on weather world, sarah andi this time on weather world, sarah and i are looking at how they make so for the film intelligent industry. we have seen fake snow, the material they use, but now this is real snow. this may look like something which came from the clouds, but actually, it came from this metal box. darcy, explain to me how we are about to make real some inside this box, then? the box is a cryogenic chamber. water, compressed air, and the water is smashed into tiny, tiny pieces. we also fire liquid nitrogen. so the smashed water is like a cloud inside a box, with liquid nitrogen, freezing it down to minus 20. so it falls like snow inside the box. wonderful. let's close these doors and get started. so this has been turning away for about 90 minutes now. shall we crank open the doors and have a look at the snow inside? wow, check this out! look at that snow. i can tell you, that is soft and fluffy and freezing cold. it feelsjust like 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

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