Category Archives: Natural disasters and extreme weather

Spain braces for more rain after hail piles up during violent storms

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Cold front heads towards east of country and Balearics as Madrid reels from flash-floods

Parts of eastern Spain and the Balearic islands are bracing for heavy rains after Madrid and the surrounding area were battered by violent storms, torrential hail, and flash flooding.

Roads around the Spanish capital were flooded, flights diverted from Barajas airport and underground services affected on Monday night as an isolated depression at high levels moved across the centre of the Iberian peninsula.

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Amazon rainforest fires: an environmental catastrophe – in pictures

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Fires are raging across the world’s largest tropical rainforest as farmers, land-grabbers and loggers torch trees and clear land for crops or grazing. According to Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research, the number of fires detected by satellite in the Amazon region this month is the highest since 2010. Bowing to international pressure and a global outcry over the destruction of a vital resource in the fight against climate change, president Jair Bolsonaro authorised the deployment of Brazil’s armed forces to help combat blazes, with warplane dumping water on burning tracts of Amazon. Critics say the large number of fires this year has been stoked by Bolsonaro’s encouragement of farmers, loggers and ranchers to speed up efforts to strip away forest

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Trump suggests ‘nuking hurricanes’ to stop them hitting America – report

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US president reportedly asked more than once about why military could not bomb hurricanes

Donald Trump has reportedly suggested on more than one occasion that the US military should bomb hurricanes in order to disrupt them before they make landfall.

According to US news website Axios, the president said in a meeting with top national security and homeland security officials about the threat of hurricanes: “I got it. I got it. Why don’t we nuke them?”

“They start forming off the coast of Africa, as they’re moving across the Atlantic, we drop a bomb inside the eye of the hurricane and it disrupts it. Why can’t we do that?”

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Wildfire in Gran Canaria forces thousands to evacuate – video

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About 8,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in Gran Canaria as firefighters battle a wildfire. The blaze, which began on Saturday near the town of Tejeda, is advancing on several fronts, propelled by high temperatures, strong winds and low humidity. Sixteen planes and helicopters as well as more than 700 firefighters are working to contain flames of up to 50 metres

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The rain in Spain: how an ancient Arabic technique saves Alicante from floods

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To protect itself from destructive flooding, the city has built a park designed to store and recycle rainwater

In Alicante it never rains but it pours. The city in southeast Spain goes without rain for months on end, but when it comes it’s torrential, bringing destructive and sometimes fatal flooding.

Or at least, it used to. In San Juan, a low-lying area of the city, authorities have built a new park with a twist. Called La Marjal, it serves as a typical recreation area and a nature reserve – but its primary purpose is to store, and then recycle, rainwater.

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Powerful typhoon sweeps away buildings in eastern China – video

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Heavy rain swept through eastern China after Typhoon Lekima made landfall in the coastal province of Zhejiang on Saturday. The powerful storm left a trail of destruction after a landslide backed up a river that broke through debris and inundated homes. The death toll from Lekima rose to 44 on Monday morning, according to state media

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Arctic wildfires spew soot and smoke cloud bigger than EU

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Plume from unprecedented blazes forecast to reach Alaska as fires rage for third month

A cloud of smoke and soot bigger than the European Union is billowing across Siberia as wildfires in the Arctic Circle rage into an unprecedented third month.

The normally frozen region, which is a crucial part of the planet’s cooling system, is spewing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and worsening the manmade climate disruption that created the tinderbox conditions.

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Myanmar scrambles to rescue flood victims as landslide kills dozens

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The annual monsoon has caused havoc in the south-east by flooding roads and destroying bridges

Myanmar troops and rescue services have scrambled to provide aid in flood-hit parts of the country after rising waters caused by the annual monsoon rains forced residents to flee by boat and a landslide killed at least 52 people.

The deluge has tested disaster response after the landslide on Friday in south-eastern Mon state was followed by heavy flooding that reached the roofs of houses and treetops in nearby towns.

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Typhoon Lekima triggers landslides and floods in eastern China – video

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At least 18 people have been killed and 14 are missing after Typhoon Lekima triggered a landslide in eastern China. More than 1 million people have been evacuated amid widespread transport disruptions after the typhoon made landfall in Zhejiang province with maximum winds of 116mph (187km/h)

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Record heatwave ‘made much more likely’ by human impact on climate

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Scientists say July at least equalled and may have beaten hottest month on record

The record-breaking heatwave that roasted Europe last month was a one-in-a-thousand-year event made up to 100 times more likely by human-driven climate change, scientists have calculated.

Around the globe, July at least equalled and may have surpassed the hottest month on record, according to data from the World Meteorological Organization. This followed the warmest June on record.

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UK weather: thunderstorms set to cause further flooding

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Roads closed in north-west after Manchester area gets two weeks’ worth of rain in 24 hours

Thunderstorms are expected to hit parts of the UK this week with a risk of more flooding following a weekend of heavy downpours.

Commuters woke up to road closures and diverted trains after parts of Greater Manchester were hit with two weeks’ worth of rain in 24 hours.

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Indian navy rescues more than 800 people from train stranded in floodwaters

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Mahalaxmi Express stuck for about 12 hours near Mumbai when river burst its banks after torrential rain

Indian navy helicopters and emergency service boats came to the rescue of more than 800 people stranded on a train in floods near Mumbai on Saturday. Some reports have the number of people affected at over 1,000.

The Mahalaxmi Express left Mumbai late on Friday for Kolhapur but travelled only 60 kilometres (37 miles) before it became stranded after a river burst its banks in torrential rain, covering the tracks.

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Wildfires: blazes rage in Arctic during severe heatwave – video

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The Arctic Circle is suffering from an unprecedented number of wildfires in the latest sign of a climate crisis. With some blazes the size of 100,000 football pitches, vast areas in Siberia, Alaska and Greenland are engulfed in flames. The World Meteorological Organisation has said these fires emitted as much carbon dioxide in a month as the whole of Sweden does in a year

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‘Unprecedented’: more than 100 Arctic wildfires burn in worst ever season

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Huge blazes in Greenland, Siberia and Alaska are producing plumes of smoke that can be seen from space

The Arctic is suffering its worst wildfire season on record, with huge blazes in Greenland, Siberia and Alaska producing plumes of smoke that can be seen from space.

The Arctic region has recorded its hottest June ever. Since the start of that month, more than 100 wildfires have burned in the Arctic circle. In Russia, 11 of 49 regions are experiencing wildfires.

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How should we cope with climate crisis? Ask survivors to take the lead | Nanette Antequisa

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As well as investing billions in reinforcing cities against climate disasters, we should support those feeling its impact right now

It was my birthday recently, and it was sad to “celebrate” with another climate disaster here in the Philippines.

Heavy flooding destroyed the work of farmers in Kapatagan Valley, the rice-growing area of Lanao del Norte province on the island of Mindanao. I know the area well – it is where I started my aid work in the early 1990s.

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Death toll from floods in south Asia rises to more than 100

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Millions displaced in India, Nepal and Bangladesh, with Assam and Bihar among the worst-hit regions

More than 100 people have been killed and millions more affected by devastating floods and landslides across India, Nepal and Bangladesh.

In the Indian state of Assam, among the worst hit areas, agencies were working on a war footing to deal with the situation, the chief minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, said.

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Storm Barry makes landfall in Louisiana – video

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Thousands of homes have been left without power after Storm Barry battered parts of Louisiana early on Sunday. The storm flooded highways, forced people to scramble on to rooftops, and dumped heavy rain as it made landfall 160 miles west of New Orleans. Authorities have warned of disastrous flooding across the Gulf Coast

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Deadly monsoon floods and landslides hit Nepal – video

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The death toll in Nepal from flash floods and landslides in the past three days rose to 47 on Sunday, with dozens more injured or missing. Incessant monsoon rains have pounded many areas in the mountainous country, submerging large portions of land, inundating homes, and destroying bridges and roads across the country

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