Pictures Of The Day 4 January: Myanmar, North Korea And Lots Of Animals
The rain and gale force winds continue to rage across the UK, causing chaos for drivers, including a smashed van in a ditch near Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire. With so much rainfall in recent days, model Jodie Kidd has the right idea as she fine tunes her swimming skills with a frolic in the water in aid of the launch of Swimathon 2012.
Despite recent warm temperatures in the UK, people are reaching for extra blankets around the globe as biting cold Winters take further hold; Indian cycle-rickshaw pullers shiver in a public garden in Amritsar and street people huddle around a fire in northern Vietnam. Even Giant Panda Hua Ao seems puzzled by the unusual snowfall in Yantai, Shandong Province of China.
Reminders of the devastation that the weather can bring is seen in Grantham, Australia, with a surreal image of a car still wedged between two trees, one whole year after an inland tsunami devastated southern Queensland's Lockyer valley, killing 23 people.
The 2012 Dakar Rally revs its way to Stage 4 in Argentina, animal activists dress as a chicken and a sheep in Germany and two detained British men are charged with illegal weapon smuggling in Afghanistan - all in the pictures of the day below: