Snow lingered in Great Britain and Ireland on December 8, 2010. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image the same day.
Snow extends from Northern Ireland southward past Dublin, and from Scotland southward into England. Snow cover stops short of London; the white expanses in that area are clouds. Snow and clouds present an almost uniform white to the satellite sensor, but clouds can be distinguished from the underlying snow by their billowy shapes and indistinct margins. Rugged hills and gray-toned urban areas interrupt the snow cover, especially in northern England.
The United Kingdom Met Office forecast that the cold weather would gradually loosen its grip on the region. For December 9 and 10, 2010, the Met Office forecast rain, but also warned of widespread icy roads.
NASA images courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Michon Scott.
