Category Archives: Extreme weather

Weakened Super Typhoon Ragasa heads towards Vietnam after battering China and Hong Kong

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Huge clear-up efforts start after storm leaves trail of destruction, with 25 reported dead in Taiwan and the Philippines

Huge clear-up operations were under way in southern China and Hong Kong on Thursday, after Super Typhoon Ragasa battered the region, causing widespread flooding and damaged roads.

Ragasa, the most powerful tropical cyclone so far this year, left a trail of damage across Hong Kong, which resumed international flights on Thursday but kept kindergartens and some schools closed. In the economic hub of Guangdong province in mainland China, where more than 2 million people were evacuated ahead of the super typhoon, crews used excavators to clear thousands of toppled trees and unblock roads.

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Super Typhoon Ragasa: 17 killed in Taiwan and Hong Kong battered as storm hits China

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Chinese businesses and schools shut and residents in high-rises ordered to evacuate as storm makes landfall on Guangdong coast

Fierce winds, pounding rain and high seas battered Hong Kong as Super Typhoon Ragasa headed into southern China after causing a lake to burst in Taiwan, killing at least 17 people.

Hong Kong experienced widespread damage on Wednesday, including fallen trees and flooding in many areas, with the storm surge smashing the glass doors of an upmarket hotel and flooding its lobby, according to footage circulating online.

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Colorado lightning strikes kill two elk hunters caught in ‘horrific act of nature’

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Bodies of Andrew Porter and Ian Stasko found by rescue crews after storm that likely killed them in ‘split second’

Lightning strikes in Colorado earlier this month killed two elk hunters who were caught in a storm, authorities concluded this week.

Andrew Porter and Ian Stasko, both 25, had been hunting in the Rio Grande national forest in southern Colorado the week of 11 September when they stopped making contact. After extensive search and rescue operations, crews came upon their bodies a week later.

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Two-year-old boy drowns after heavy rain unleashes mudslides in southern California

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Boy’s body was found Friday after he drowned in family’s vehicle when it was swept off the road by flood waters

A two-year-old drowned in a vehicle that was swept away by flood waters in southern California, and the child’s father had to be rescued by authorities, officials said Friday.

The deadly emergency unfolded amid sudden heavy rain east of Los Angeles that unleashed mudslides which plowed into homes and trapped drivers for hours on roadways.

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Bali to block new hotels and restaurants after deadly flooding raises questions about mass tourism

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Bali governor says new instructions issued to stop hotels and restaurants being built on productive land, especially rice fields

Indonesia will ban the construction of new hotels and restaurants built atop cleared rice fields and agricultural land on the popular resort island of Bali, after recent flash flooding killed at least 18 people.

A state of emergency was declared on Bali on 10 September after the island experienced the most severe flooding in more than a decade.

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Europe’s summer of extreme weather caused €43bn of short-term losses, analysis finds

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Greatest damage from heat, drought and flooding done in Cyprus, Greece, Malta and Bulgaria

The violent weather that battered Europe this summer caused short-term economic losses of at least €43bn, according to an EU-wide estimate, with costs expected to rise to €126bn by 2029.

The immediate hit to the economy from a single brutal summer of heat, drought and flooding amounted to 0.26% of the EU’s economic output in 2024, according to the rapid analysis, which has not been submitted for peer review but is based on relationships between weather and economic data that were published in an academic study this month.

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Flash floods in Indonesia leave at least 15 people dead and 10 missing

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Torrential rains cause flooding and landslides in East Nusa Tenggara province and on the tourist island of Bali

Rescuers have recovered the bodies of 15 people who have died in flash flooding in two Indonesian provinces, while authorities said 10 others were missing.

Torrential rains beginning on Monday caused flooding and landslides in East Nusa Tenggara province and on the island of Bali.

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Fast-moving wildfire destroys multiple structures in historic California Gold Rush town

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Blaze in Chinese Camp – a town settled around 1850 by Chinese miners – was caused by lightning, authorities say

Multiple structures burned in a historic Gold Rush town in northern California on Tuesday night, after thousands of lightning strikes ignited a spate of fast-moving fires in the rural dry foothills of the Eastern Sierra.

Chinese Camp, about 57 miles (92km) east of Stockton and named for the Chinese miners who settled there, is a registered California landmark filled with historic structures, and home to roughly 60 residents.

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Summer 2025 was hottest on record in UK, says Met Office

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Unprecedented average temperature made about 70 times more likely by human-induced climate change, says agency

The UK has had its hottest summer on record, the Met Office has said, after the country faced four heatwaves in a single season.

The mean temperature for meteorological summer, which encompasses the months of June, July and August, was 16.1C (60.98F), which is significantly above the current record of 15.76C set in 2018.

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‘Pray for rain’: wildfires in Canada are now burning where they never used to

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Canada’s response to the extreme weather threat is being upended as the traditional epicentre of the blazes shifts as the climate warms

Road closures, evacuations, travel chaos and stern warnings from officials have become fixtures of Canada’s wildfire season. But as the country goes through its second-worst burn on record, the blazes come with a twist: few are coming from the western provinces, the traditional centre of destruction.

Instead, the worst of the fires have been concentrated in the prairie provinces and the Atlantic region, with bone-dry conditions upending how Canada responds to a threat that is only likely to grow as the climate warms.

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Death toll after monsoon floods in Pakistan rises to more than 320

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Most of the dead were reported in the mountainous province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with more rain forecast

The death toll from heavy monsoon rains that have triggered flash floods across northern Pakistan has risen to at least 321 people in the past 48 hours, the country’s disaster authority said on Saturday.

The majority of the deaths, 307, were recorded in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.

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‘Hellish’: heatwave brings hottest nights on record to the Middle East

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Temperatures did not drop below 36C in Sedom, Israel on Tuesday night, while several parts of Jordan stayed above 35C on Monday

Jordan and Israel have suffered through their hottest nights on record, with nocturnal temperatures in the Levant well above levels that scientists consider “hellish”.

Temperatures on Monday night did not go below 35C (95F) in Ghor es-Safi and Aqaba in Jordan, while in the capital, Amman, they stayed above 31.8C.

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Flash flood in Indian Kashmir leaves at least 56 dead and scores missing

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People on popular pilgrimage route were washed away by flood waters triggered by cloudburst, officials say

At least 56 people have died and 80 are missing after a sudden rainstorm in Indian Kashmir, the second such disaster in the Himalayas in a little over a week.

The incident in the town of Chashoti, Kishtwar district, occurred at a stopover point on a pilgrimage route. Days earlier, a flood and mudslide engulfed a village in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.

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‘No country is safe’: deadly Nordic heatwave supercharged by climate crisis, scientists say

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Historically cool nations saw hospitals overheating and surge in drownings, wildfires and toxic algal blooms

The prolonged Nordic heatwave in July was supercharged by the climate crisis and shows “no country is safe from climate change”, scientists say.

Norway, Sweden and Finland have historically cool climates but were hit by soaring temperatures, including a record run of 22 days above 30C (86C) in Finland. Sweden endured 10 straight days of “tropical nights”, when temperatures did not fall below 20C (68F).

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Thousands evacuated in Spain amid deadly wildfires and new heatwave

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Temperatures of 44C predicted as blazes rage across Europe

Almost 6,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in northern, central and southern Spain as wildfires continue to burn amid a heatwave that could bring temperatures of 44C to some parts of the country.

The deadly heat across large parts of Europe has created what scientists have called a “molotov cocktail” of climatic conditions that is fuelling vast wildfires.

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Colorado prison evacuated as wildfire becomes one of largest in state history

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Lee fire chars more than 167 sq miles with 6% containment as California crews reach 62% containment on Canyon fire

A Colorado prison was evacuated as one of the largest wildfires in state history continued to grow, and officials warned residents of remote areas to be ready to leave on Sunday as gusty winds and low humidity fed the flames.

Evacuation orders were already in place for mountain communities as the Lee fire charred more than 167 sq miles (433 sq km) across Garfield and Rio Blanco counties, with just 6% containment. No injuries or structural damage has been reported.

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About 100 people missing as flash flood tears through town in northern India

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Large-scale search and rescue operation under way after at least five people killed in Himalayan region

Dozens of people were missing after a fast-moving surge of water and mud smashed into a town in India’s Himalayan region on Tuesday, tearing down a mountain valley and demolishing buildings, killing at least five people.

Videos broadcast on Indian media showed a terrifying river of muddy water engulf the town of Dharali in Uttarakhand state on Tuesday afternoon, sweeping away entire homes and apartment blocks. In footage recorded at the scene, people could been seen screaming in fear as they tried to escape the surging flood waters.

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Canada wildfires: 81 million Americans under air quality alerts as blazes rage

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Hundreds of fires across Canada and parts of the US prompt alerts in 14 states from Great Lakes region to the north-east

Hundreds of wildfires continued to burn across Canada and parts of the US on Tuesday sending smoke from the blazes across the region and reducing air quality in both countries.

US air quality tanked from the Great Lakes region to the north-east, making skies hazy from Minneapolis to New York City and even prompting a ground stop at Boston’s Logan international airport due to “low visibility” on Monday. Detroit, New York City and Chicago continued to record some of the worst air quality in the world on Tuesday, according to IQAir, ranking fourth, 10th and 11th respectively.

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Woman swept away in flood waters in Hunter region as emergency services respond to more than 1,450 calls

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Twenty-six-year-old Chinese engineer was trying to flee a vehicle in a swollen creek in Rothbury, near Cessnock

A search was under way after a woman was swept into a flooded creek in the Hunter region overnight, as heavy downpours continued to batter large parts of northern New South Wales.

Police said a Mini was being driven by a 27-year-old woman in Rothbury, near Cessnock, when it became stuck in a swollen creek on Old North Road just before 8pm on Saturday.

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Storm Floris to hit UK on Monday with unseasonably strong winds forecast

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Yellow weather warning for wind in Scotland, Northern Ireland, north Wales and north of England from 6am

Storm Floris is forecast to bring unseasonably strong winds to the UK on Monday, the Met Office has said.

The strongest winds are expected during the afternoon and night across Scotland, with gusts of up to 85mph possible on exposed coasts and hills.

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