"(Many of) the big cities aren't seeing snow accumulation, they're seeing very heavy rain with the wind, " she said.

CNN: Storms snarl traffic, batter Midwest and Northeast

Secondly, if you make life difficult for yourself - perhaps by shooting into the light or in very difficult conditions such as heavy rain, driving snow or stormy seas - there will be less chance of you overlapping with other photographers' work and your images stand a chance of being far more striking.

BBC: Cumbria - Chris Packham's photography tips

With heavy rain having made the Welford Road pitch very boggy it suggested the visitors might take a more conservative approach than usual but there was no sign of that when the game started.

BBC: Leicester 14-9 Toulouse

For all the recent improvements at a packed Twickenham Stoop the return was in decidedly more prosaic surroundings, with heavy rain turning the pitch into a quagmire and making handling very difficult.

BBC: Harlequins 19-17 Stade Francais

The rain in itself is not exceptionally heavy but it has been very slow-moving.

BBC: Floods: how much can new barriers help?