A cold start to spring for some parts of the country, as snow fell and cold southerly winds blew – but the biggest news has been happening elsewhere in the world this week – both near and far.

We’ll start with your pictures from a snowy weekend, as Saturday and Sunday saw some places in the South Island dusted with snow, right down to sea level!
Check out the photos here.

@WeatherWatchNZ Snow at 200m in Dunedin pic.twitter.com/OVFcoZ8Gmx

— Michael Wagener (@Mykuhl) September 5, 2015

In global news, a new study was published this week, showing that there are 3.04 trillion trees on Earth, 7½ times more than previous estimates.
That’s roughly 422 trees — a tiny forest! — for every person on the planet.
The bad news? Researchers estimate that the total number of trees has plummeted by roughly 46% since the dawn of human civilization. And we’re mostly to blame.

Seeing the forest and the trees, all 3 trillion of them http://t.co/RSoyfrizpb Via @Yale More: http://t.co/jYaMjC058t pic.twitter.com/g7mb9UcpXf

— NASA Earth (@NASA_EO) September 4, 2015

In news closer to home, there was speculation ahead of this week’s Pacific Leaders Summit in Papua New Guinea would generate some heated conversation over climate change – but the exchanges, when they did come, were more genial than confrontational.
The subject was expected to be the dominating issue discussed at the Pacific Islands Forum, ahead of the UN’s major climate change conference in Paris at the end of the year.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that “Australia and New Zealand have made no additional commitments when it comes to climate change.”
Kiribati President Anote Tong said it’s not the outcome they were after, “but I think we must respect that. Whether we accept that or not is a different question.”

PM faces down Pacific Island nations’ calls for tougher action on climate change http://t.co/jL3OrkEFdE (Pic: AAP) pic.twitter.com/g2YrSpmyYW

— ABC News (@abcnews) September 10, 2015

Further afield in Thailand, social media lit up Monday morning as commuters posted photos and videos of a mystery fireball that briefly illuminated the Thai capital’s sky.
Was it an asteroid? Balloon? Space junk? Watch the footage below and make up your own minds…

คลิป เหตุà¸à¸²à¸£à¸“์ลูà¸à¹„ฟระเบิดà¸à¸¥à¸²à¸‡à¸—้องฟ้าในà¸à¸£à¸¸à¸‡à¹€à¸—พมหานคร เครดิต : รวีวัชร์ ตันติเสวี #ไทยรัภpic.twitter.com/FjVcBTMkkk

— Thitapa Siripipat (@Pingz_TRnews) September 7, 2015

In aviation news, we saw dramatic images of a fire which broke out on Wednesday on an outbound British Airways flight at Las Vegas airport, leading 14 people transported for medical care for what a fire official called “minor injuries.”
A majority of the injuries came as passengers slid down the inflatable chutes to evacuate the Boeing 777, Clark County Fire Department Deputy Chief Jon Klassen said.
Check out the photos, and video, here.

British Airways plane fire shows what NOT to do in an emergency: don’t bring your luggage http://t.co/k0CBHbN3W8 pic.twitter.com/tqq2tbREoQ

— ABC News (@ABC) September 10, 2015

Across the ditch in Australia, farmers and residents in New South Wales are gearing up for a long, hot, dry summer as El Nino threatens to drag on.
The fire risk this season is expected to be above average due to a strong El Nino, causing drier and warmer-than-average conditions that are expected over the next few months.

Latest @bnhcrc outlook shows NSW can expect ‘above normal’ fire activity for the 2015/16 bush fire season #NSWRFS http://t.co/fIUyAMWBWk

— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) August 31, 2015

And finally, in tragic news to end the week, tens of thousands of people have been ordered to flee homes across Japan as heavy rain pounded the country, sending radiation-tainted waters into the ocean at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
Waist-high floods in some areas left rescuers scrambling to pluck people to safety as a wide area was deluged in the wake of Typhoon Etau.
Follow the latest on the flooding and Japan’s plight with CNN, here.

#JapanFlood: Dramatic pictures from #Joso show helicopter rescue teams lifting people f… (Vine by @BBCWorld) https://t.co/zZHx4tunAG

— Sandra Sully (@Sandra_Sully) September 10, 2015

 

And don’t forget to check out the forecast for your part of the world with Philip Duncan’s weekend Weather Video, here.

– Photo: CNN