Mid-East suffers rare cold snap!
January 17, 2008 - There have been a number of deaths and considerable damage to crops in the Middle East as temperatures in the region have fallen to exceptional lows.
Local reports say that 10 people died in Saudi Arabia after snowfalls.
In Syria, temperatures have dropped to minus 16 degrees Celsius. There has been widespread damage to crops in Syria, Jordan and Israel.
There has also been snow in the Iraqi capital Baghdad for the first time in living memory.
The Middle East is a region used to extremes of temperature - but not ones like these.
Kuwaiti meteorologists are eagerly watching thermometers to see if the previous low recorded in the open desert, minus four degrees Celsius in 1964, could be broken in the coming days.
Ed. Note: I thought we were in the midst of a global warming crisis?!
