Category Archives: Extreme weather

Tenerife wildfire ‘started deliberately’ as blazes in Greece force evacuations

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Canary Islands regional president opens inquiry into fire, while people flee from four Greek villages

An out-of-control wildfire on Tenerife that has forced thousands to flee was started deliberately, authorities have said, as four more villages in Greece were evacuated in the face of another advancing blaze and more than half of mainland France was on extreme heat alert.

As much of southern Europe continues to roast after July was named the world’s hottest month on record, the Canary Islands regional president, Fernando Clavijo, said on Sunday that police had confirmed the blaze raging on the Spanish island since Tuesday had been lit intentionally, and had opened three separate lines of inquiry.

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Washington state wildfire leaves one dead and nearly 200 structures destroyed

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Evacuations ordered after wind-fueled blaze expands unchecked near eastern city of Spokane and shuts highway

A wind-driven wildfire in eastern Washington state has destroyed at least 185 structures, closed a major highway and left one person dead, authorities have said.

The blaze began shortly after midday on Friday on the west side of Medical Lake, about 15 miles (24km) west of Spokane, and then expanded, state Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Isabelle Hoygaard said on Saturday.

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Canada wildfires: British Columbia in state of emergency as 19,000 flee Yellowknife fire

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Premier says days ahead will be ‘extremely challenging’, as firefighters in neighbouring Northwest Territories fight to save city

The premier of the Canadian province of British Columbia has declared a state of emergency, saying authorities there were “facing the worst wildfire season ever”, as thousands were evacuated from cities east of Vancouver.

Premier David Eby said on Friday night: “Over the past 24 hours, the situation has evolved rapidly and we are in for an extremely challenging situation in the days ahead.”

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Warm July breaks dozens of longstanding Australian temperature records

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Many weather stations in Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart clocked their highest July temperatures ever as the country’s winters get hotter

Dozens of longstanding temperature records tumbled across Australia during a warm July.

Across the country maximum temperatures were overall about 1.2C above the long-term averages in July and all capital cities except Canberra were warmer than average, Bureau of Meteorology data shows.

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Fire in south of France rages though campsite and 500 hectares of land

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Blaze in popular tourist area in the Pyrenees forced evacuation of 2,000 people before it was brought under control

A fire in the south of France burned through 500 hectares (1,240 acres) of land and destroyed a campsite, with 2,000 people evacuated before the blaze was brought under control on Tuesday.

The French environment minister said the climate crisis was exacerbating conditions of drought that fed the fire. No one was injured in the fire, authorities said.

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Typhoon Lan: mass power cuts hit western Japan as storm makes landfall

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Flights cancelled and flood and landslide warnings issued as typhoon approaches area south-west of Tokyo with sustained winds of 150km/h

Nearly 800 flights have been cancelled and tens of thousands of homes have lost power as a slow-moving typhoon made landfall in western Japan early on Tuesday, prompting authorities to issue flood and landslide warnings.

Approaching from the Pacific Ocean, Typhoon Lan hit the southern tip of Wakayama prefecture, 400km (250 miles) south-west of Tokyo. The typhoon had sustained winds of 150km/h (93mph) and was moving north-west across the western part of the main island of Honshu at around 15km/h (9mph).

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Storm Hans: railway bridge collapses in southern Norway

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Middle section of Randklev Bridge on Oslo-to-Trondheim line slid into Lågen River on Monday morning

A critical railway bridge in Norway has collapsed into a river after a storm caused widespread damage to infrastructure.

The middle part of the Randklev Bridge in Ringebu, which is crossed by the Dovre line connecting Oslo and Trondheim, slid into the Lågen River on Monday morning.

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Floods and landslides kill at least 49 people in northern India

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Dozens missing after days of heavy rain wash away vehicles and destroy buildings in Himalayan region

At least 49 people have been killed and dozens are thought to be missing after intense rain caused floods and landslides in the Indian Himalayan region.

Days of torrential downpours have washed away vehicles, demolished buildings and destroyed bridges in the northern states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. Flooding and landslides are common and cause widespread devastation during India’s monsoon season but experts say the climate crisis is increasing their frequency and severity.

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Hawaii wildfires: deadliest US blaze in a century kills at least 93 people

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Governor says death toll in Lahaina is expected to rise after ‘worst natural disaster that Hawaii ever faced’

At least 93 people have died in the fire that consumed the historic town of Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui, and officials warned that the effort to find and identify the dead was still in its early stages.

Meanwhile, anger at the government response to the deadliest wildfire in recent US history is mounting. Residents have raised questions over various aspects of the government response, from warnings during the inferno to aid distribution in the days since.

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Hawaii fires: fresh blaze prompts renewed evacuations as Maui death toll rises

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At least 80 people killed in deadliest disaster in the state’s history, as questions asked about the local warning system

The death toll from the Maui wildfires in Hawaii has risen to 80 as search teams comb through the smouldering ruins of Lahaina and a new fire triggered the evacuation of another community on Friday night.

The Maui police department said the new fire was burning in Kaanapali in West Maui, to the north-east of the area that burned earlier this week.

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Desperate search for survivors in Maui after 36 people die in Hawaii fires

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Officials warned death toll could rise after wildfires left dozens of people injured and homes and businesses destroyed

At least 36 people have died in ferocious wildfires that have ravaged the historic town of Lahaina in Hawaii, as crews continued mass evacuation efforts and desperate searches for survivors.

Officials warned on Thursday that the death toll in the blazes on the island of Maui could rise. Search teams spread out to charred areas on the island at first light.

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Ski season finally ends at California’s Mammoth Mountain resort

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It was one of the longest seasons in resort’s 70-year history, helped out by a colossal snowpack from an extreme weather winter

After a historic amount of snowfall, a popular California resort is ending its second-longest ski season. The ski lifts at Mammoth Mountain, in the eastern Sierra Nevadas, have been open since early November and, up until 5 August, remained available well into summer.

While it is not unusual for people to powder-surf on the Fourth of July at the resort, the sheer amount of snow the mountain saw made this season exceptional and one of the longest in the resort’s 70-year history, according to NPR.

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Texas hiker found dead in Utah planned to scatter father’s ashes on mountain

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Body of Jimmy Hendricks, 66, from Austin, was found after he announced on Facebook plan to hike in Arches national park

A Texas man found dead while hiking in Utah was on the way to scatter his late father’s ashes, according to family members.

Jimmy Hendricks, 66, left his Austin home in mid-July for Nevada, where he planned to scatter the ashes on a mountain. Along the way, he made stops at Guadalupe Peak in Texas and the Grand Canyon.

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Storm Hans causes havoc in Norway with heaviest rain in 25 years forecast

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Landslides, a stranded town and two deaths so far reported as extreme weather sweeps across south of the country

A powerful storm has brought destruction to Norway, causing landslides and leaving an entire town stranded, as meteorologists warned of the strongest rainfall in a quarter of a century.

The storm – named Storm Hans – has killed two people, ripped off roofs and caused widespread disruption across northern Europe in a summer that started with wildfires across much of the region.

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Storms in US north-east leave two dead and lead to thousands of flight cancellations

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Tornado watches and warnings posted across 10 states from Tennessee to New York

A wave of destructively strong storms moving through the US north-east have left two people dead, caused thousands of flight cancellations and left more than 1.1m homes and businesses without power.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for the greater DC area, lasting until 9pm, as well as a flood warning extending through Tuesday morning. A special statement warned: “There is a significant threat for damaging and locally destructive hurricane-force winds, along with the potential for large hail and tornadoes, even strong tornadoes.”

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California judge pauses sweeping of homeless encampments amid heatwave

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Order was issued against the city of Sacramento after advocates called out the municipality for violating its own order

Amid a heatwave that is sweeping through parts of the American west, a federal judge in California has placed a temporary ban on sweeps of homeless encampments.

US district court judge Troy L Nunley issued the order against the city of Sacramento on 3 August, after advocates called out the municipality for violating its own order by sweeping an encampment during a time of excessive heat, which is anything over 90F.

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South Korea to evacuate scout jamboree as typhoon looms

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Site has been plagued by issues including heatwave that left hundreds ill last week

All participants at this year’s World Scout Jamboree in South Korea will be evacuated from the campsite before the scheduled end date of 12 August due to a typhoon that is expected to make landfall over the Korean peninsula in the coming days, in the latest blow to the event.

The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) said it had received confirmation from the South Korean government that, due to the expected impact of Typhoon Khanun, an early departure would be planned for all participants at the global youth event in the south-western county of Buan.

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UK Scouts says £1m cost of relocating jamboree will affect its work for years

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Head of Scout Association says event in South Korea had been poorly organised even before threat of Typhoon Khanun

The £1m cost of relocating the 4,500-strong UK contingent at the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea will affect the work of the Scout Association for as much as five years, the organisation’s boss has said.

Matt Hyde, the UK Scouts chief executive, said the association had been forced to dip into its reserves after the event’s organisers decided to clear the campsite five days early because of an incoming typhoon that is expected to make landfall over the Korean peninsula in the coming days.

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China floods: at least 14 killed after torrential rain in north-east

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Clean-up operations continue after rainfall destroys infrastructure and floods entire districts in aftermath of Typhoon Doksuri

At least 14 people are dead after torrential rain hit China’s north-eastern Jilin province, state media has reported, in the latest fatalities from more than a week of weather-related disasters across the country.

Thousands of troops have been sent into affected areas of Jilin and neighbouring Heilongjiang to assist with the flood response, evacuations, distributing supplies and fixing damaged roads. State media outlet Xinhua said about 2,000 soldiers and 5,000 members of the People’s Armed Police paramilitary force had been deployed.

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Winter heatwave in Andes is sign of things to come, scientists warn

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Human-caused climate disruption and El Niño push temperature in mountains to 37C

Exceptional winter heat in the Andean mountains of South America has surged to 37C, prompting local scientists to warn the worst may be yet to come as human-caused climate disruption and El Niño cause havoc across the region.

The heatwave in the central Chilean Andes is melting the snow below 3,000 metres (9,840ft), which will have knock-on effects for people living in downstream valleys who depend on meltwater during the spring and summer.

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