Is wintry weather a blessing? Snow has fallen across the UK, for many the first of winter. For our ancestors, snow was at once a terrible curse and a source of sublime beauty.
Snow exposes deep longing experts say
Big chill: UK weather warnings this morning follow the first snowfall of winter. Over 200 schools closed yesterday. Parts of Scotland with fall to -12 tonight, three degrees colder than Omsk, the third-largest city in Siberia. Glossary
Harbinger - Someone or something that announces the approach of something else. An indicator.
Black ice - A thin coat of transparent ice. Drivers often cannot see it on the road.
Goths - A nomadic Germanic people who fought against the Roman Empire in the AD 300s and 400s.
Saxons - A Germanic people who spread through Gaul and Britain.
Slavs - People from eastern and central Europe who speak Slavic languages, for example Polish and Russian.
Western Roman Empire - The western provinces of the roman empire.
Ragnarok - In Norse mythology, Ragnarok is the end of the world.
Volcanic winter - A reduction in global temperatures caused by volcanic ash blocking the Sun.
Famine - A widespread scarcity of food.
Thames - The river that runs through London.
Robert Frost - A 20th Century American poet known for his depictions of rural life.