Snow, snow and more snow

Winters are usually not very cold in most of the UK. But we are currently having some unusual weather. It is the coldest winter in 30 years.

There has been lots of snow in the UK this week. It has snowed everywhere, and some places had up to 40cm of snow fall in a few hours. This has caused problems with travel. Many airports have been shut and smaller roads have been difficult to use. Thousands of children have had days off school.

Scotland is more used to very cold winters, but it is unusually chilly there too. Plans are being made to hold a sports meeting on a frozen lake next week, once the ice is slightly thicker. The event has not been held since 1979, and would bring 2,000 people to use 250 specially-carved rinks on the lake.

Manchester United shocks manager

Football fans expect the FA Cup tournament to include some surprises. The Cup draw mixes up teams from different divisions. Sometimes teams with part-time players beat well-known teams from further up the football league.

This weekend Manchester United was knocked out of the FA cup by Leeds United. Man U are the Premier League champions, and Leeds are playing in League One. It is the first time Manchester has been removed from the competition so early in 25 years.

Manchester’s manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, was angry with his players. He said their performance had shocked him.

Who says the UK isn’t interested in food?

This week the chef who invented snail porridge and bacon ice cream has been voted top chef of the decade by readers of a food magazine. Heston Blumenthal, whose restaurant is in the South of England, has won many international food awards before.

And the Government says it wants us to change the way food is bought, grown and sold. Restaurants will have to say if food is high in salt, sugar or fat, and the Government wants sweets and crisps to be sold in smaller packets. This is to stop people getting too fat.

People will also be asked to change their diets to help to fight against climate change.

Politicians start fighting

The UK has to have an election by this June. The main political parties started trying to win our votes as soon as the Christmas holiday was over. There has been lots of arguments about each party’s policies and plans for the economy.

But the election may not be held for five months. The arguments look likely to go on for a very long time.

by Susan Young
susan@englishuk.com