After a temperate February, mild conditions set to continue in the north, with moderate winds but otherwise fair conditions in the south: such was the March weather forecast. Weather Witches and muggles alike have been blindsided by the unprecedented snowfall that hit the south of England this morning. Snowfall has been so severe in the southwest counties that Cornwall and Devon have already seen snowdrifts of up to fifteen feet high, and muggle communities are facing a particular battering, with stranded people, destruction of property and blocked train lines.

Rough seas and blizzard conditions on the coast have also seen more than upwards of fifty ships in the English Channel wrecked or unaccounted for; the merchant vessel the Bay of Panama, en route from Calcutta to Dundee, is reported to have been dashed on the rocks near Falmouth, Cornwall, with fatalities confirmed. These weather conditions are set to continue east and sweep into London by midday today, with the heaviest snowfall set for the next twenty-four hours, but freezing temperatures predicted to last for the remainder of the week.

Muggle and magical snow-clearing operations are already being coordinated to minimise the impact, but a Ministry spokesperson warns of possible congestion and short disconnections of the Floo Network over the next few days, and recommends that residents of London and the south remain indoors except in the event of emergency. “We advise caution when attempting to apparate in extreme weather,” he adds, “and I am personally begging people to delay sending out owls with their post, however urgent they presume it is, because their letters are certain to get lost and the last thing we need is hundreds of dead owls on the London streets to clean up, too.”