THE PICTURE ABOVE SHOWS A SATELLITE VIEW OF THE WEATHER AROUND THE WORLD AT 06:00UTC THIS MORNING.
It was obtained from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. To obtain the latest image of this type, click here.

UTC: the international standard
Please note that UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) is used in MetLink reviews.
UTC replaced GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) as the international time standard some years ago. For practical purposes, there is no difference between UTC and GMT.
The official international way of writing times is to use the 24-hour clock and to put a colon between the hours and minutes. Thus, to give an example, 2.30pm is 14:30. Mid-day in the UK is 12:00UTC.

WHAT DO THE COLOURS SHOW?
The colours show temperatures. To find out how temperatures relate to colours, look at the scale beneath the picture. Land temperatures are indicated by the part of the scale above the caption “Synoptic obs”. Sea temperatures are indicated by the part of the scale above the caption “Sea surface”. Ice is shown in white. Clouds are shown in shades of grey. A scale is provided just above the words “Cloud top” (bottom right of the picture).
TODAY:
White – sea-ice, i.e. ice formed by the freezing of sea water – around the Antarctic continent (where it is currently summer!), also on the Arctic Ocean, the Sea of Okhotsk, the Bering Sea and the waters off Labrador and Newfoundland.
Blue to purple over much of the Antarctic and over Russia and eastern and northern Canada – indicating temperatures below about minus 15°C. After a relatively mild day or two earlier this week, the Antarctic has cooled again. The areas of Asia and North America affected by temperatures below about minus 15°C have decreased considerably in the past few days. The western side of Canada is now fairly mild, with temperatures above 0°C to quite high latitudes.
Yellow and green over the middle of Asia and over western Europe – indicating temperatures between about minus 5°C and plus 10°C. These areas are warmer than of late and warmer than average.
Warmest in the north of Australia – but remember that in Australia this time of year is summer and this time of day mid-afternoon. In contrast, this time of year is winter in North America and 06:00UTC the middle of the night. Thus, with regard to temperatures, the chart does not compare like with like around the world.
Where was the warmest sea water? Notice the cooler water on the eastern sides of the South Pacific, South Atlantic and South Indian Oceans, caused by upwelling of water – the water driven away from coasts by prevailing south-easterly trade winds and water rising from a depth of 50-100m to replace it.

WHICH ARE THE SUNNIEST PARTS OF THE WORLD?
This satellite view shows that cloud amounts tend to be greatest in middle and high latitudes and near the equator. Amounts tend to be much smaller in the tropics and sub-tropics.
The clouds in middle and high latitudes are mostly associated with weather systems called depressions and anticyclones. The weather in the anticyclones of middle and high latitudes is generally fine and quiet but sometimes rather cloudy. The weather in the depressions of middle and high latitudes is generally cloudy, wet and windy.
The cloud near the equator is associated with a climatic feature called the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) which brings cloud and heavy rain. This feature generally extends right round the globe but can be weak in some regions. The ITCZ migrates northwards to reach its most northerly position in July/August and then migrates southwards to reach its most southerly position in January/February. The rain falls mostly in the form of heavy showers.
TODAY:
Quite a lot of ITCZ cumulonimbus activity over South America, the western half of Central Africa and the western half of the Pacific Ocean. The ITCZ also active over the Atlantic Ocean but patchy over the Indian Ocean and the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Depressions over the Southern Ocean (as usual) and over the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans and over Scandinavia and eastern Europe. Cloudy today over southern India and over the Atlantic Ocean between the Azores and Morocco.

WHERE WAS THE BEST PLACE TO BE TODAY?
Do let the MetLink team know where in the world you wanted to be today, and why. To do so, click here.