Why does cold weather dry my skin out? Generally things dry out more slowly the colder it is, yet as soon as winter arrives my hands become so dry the skin splits.

We (the UK) have had a lot of snow and sub-zero temperatures recently, followed by brief thaws and then sub-zero temperatures, and the water in the pond has frozen white and then these large dendrite-like structures have appeared - the pond is still frozen solid. There are also what looks like bubbles frozen into the ice below the surface and odd dents in the surface..

Recently I've been up late at night and have noticed something rather strange about the birds in my area: they will continuously sing from about 11pm until 3am, possibly even later. At this time of year (middle of January), it won't be fully bright until about 7 or 8, getting dark at 5 or 6 in the evening. What is their reason for doing this? I live relatively close to the centre of Dublin. Is light pollution an issue?

Stephen,

Dublin, Ireland

Why snow is white? Does somebody can explain it?