Weather & Earth Science News

UN to assess North Korean floods as more rain falls Typhoon leaves at least 7 dead in Philippines Heatwave causes Russian football switch In northern Finland: flooding in Oulu; houses overturned in Virolahti Snowdon rescue record as bad weather catches out walkers - don't they ever look at the forecast? Cooling, not population loss, led to fewer fires after 1500 in New World .   Or possibly it was both? Idaho power touts positive results from cloud seeding Weather station temperatures are over-heated, report claims - but take this with a pinch of salt, the report comes from Anthony Watts who wouldn't accept there was warming if his own mother's blood boiled dry .....   His claims have been looked at before by others who have found that in fact, if anything, US weather station data may be underestimating any temp increase .  But as one ex-sceptic says climate change is down to humans , just  what evidence will it take to con...

In a rare incident, 4 Polish hikers killed by lightning in Pieniny mountains ,  whilst there were also  record lightning strikes on Sunday in Finland I still don't really get the point of grandiose theatrical opening ceremonies for a sporting event, but it has to be said that the opening of the Olympics on Friday night was very clever, with some nice bits of British humour, and something to be proud of.  And good to see 205 seperate nations represented.  Also, it didn't rain, although there was a brief shower before the ceremony began.   Not that that stopped Piers Corbyn from expressing delight that his prediction of thunderstorms and deluges was correct and that the MetO's forecast that there was just a small risk of a shower was wrong .......   Maybe he was watching a repeat of the Euro football chanpionships in Ukraine?   Saturday proved another fine day but some heavu showers on Sunday - not that that stopped Lizzie Armistea...

In the US, July on pace to be the hottest month on record and as a consequence, Great Lakes water temperatures at record levels US midwest drought worsens despite rains But I'm sure no-one is too concerned that its summertime, and the twisters are missing .   Although yesterday, powerful storms leave thousands without power across US   with a couple of minor tornadoes reported. In Britain hot weather sees more rail speed restrictions But in Somerset, the land the heatwave forgot: farm still 2ft under water and swifts suffer after miserable UK weather though some better news as record rainfall restores rivers in Thames area   Heatwave allegedly buckles road in Amsterdam In Australia,  WA's big freeze continues as Jandakot hits -0.4c but over in Victoria warm winter weather breaks records whilst in NZ, warm weather keeps snow and skiers away .  (incidently: my latest winter thoughts are for a cold December, with man...

Hottest day of the year so far in Britain with 30.1c in London.   But trains miss Olympic stop as weather is too hot  and at the Royal Welsh Show: major heatstroke alert declared . And talking of the Olympics, Piers Corbyn's latest pronoucement is that: .....this period 27-28th is an R4 Red weather warning meaning that (on at least 95% of occasions) rain, thunder, hail tornado risk, frontal actovity and turbulence will be significantly exacerbated in this period beyond the expectations of standard meteorology expectations from a day or so ahead The only possible aversion of the rain could be through weather control if it would work - by cloud seeding (using dry-ice = solid CO2  or silver iodide) to make deluges and floods in Northampton instead of Stratford. We note that this was not done for the Queens river pageant on June 3rd (or if that was secretly tried it failed). It is also worth knowing these things can go catastrophically wrong. For ...

After record rain and floods earlier this month, heatwave claims 13 lives in Japan last week and in Korea, sweltering day and night puts country under heat wave advisories Scores injured as typhoon lashes HK Meanwhile, the weekend's deadly Beijing floods prompt infrastructure question but there was some good news as record rainfall replenishes Beijing water supplies, ending a 13 year drought A warm day yesterday with 28c in London and for the rest of the week UK to swelter in hotter weather than Hawaii (assuming the UK means central, southern and eastern England and Wales) - we may well see 30c somewhere today or tomorrow.  But it looks like turning unsettled and showery by the weekend.   Which of course is close to what Piers Corbyn forecast - though whether we'll see any 'deluges' and 'thunderfloods' is another matter!   Some early indications now that this coming unsettled spell may only be short lived in the south though - watch this space. Sum...

Beijing chaos after record floods in Chinese capital - with 460mm reported to have fallen at one location.  More pictures here Spanish wildfires: three killed in Catalonia Flooding, slips close Waikato roads in NZ Floods from heavy rain turn metro Manila into 'waterworld' In Hyderabad rain brings death at dawn Siberian wildfires light up US west coast - the smoke producing stunning sunsets US experiences warm and dry June; drought expands to 56% of lower 48 Food price crisis feared as erratic weather wreaks havoc on crops Climategate inquiry 'did not identify any suspects' so is the 'Climategate': case closed? River networks on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, point to a puzzling geologic history

Holiday makers are getting a bit more heat than they bargained for as Portugal's Maderia hit by forest fires - more details on the Maderia news blog .   Video of the fire over Funchal looks damned frightening!   In the Canaries, firefighters battle Tenerife forest blaze .  And near Athens, Greek wildfire damages homes, forces evacuation of children's camp, retirement home, monastry . Meanwhile, in Cypress, heatwave claims its first victim With over 22mm, mostly from two thunderstorms (well, there was a bit of thunder and I did see a couple of flashes of lightning, one possibly a ground strike!) made Wednesday the wettest day in Evesham since August 2010, and also means that July is already the wettest month also since August 2010.   However we have some way to go still to match the rainfall in July 2009, let alone the record 251mm in 2007.   Four of the past 6 years have now recorded over 100mm against a long term local avera...

Morroco hits 121f (49.6c) a national all-time heat record and the first such record of 2012 (though there was an all time highest minimum record for the US last week as Death Valley, California records the world's hottest temperature in a 24 hour period - it's maximum though was below the previous record.) There's also been record heat for the second day in Cyprus   Macedonia battles fires as heatwave continues And more daily records have been broken in parts of the USA and Canada as heat wave bakes much of the US and aggravates record drought . Here in Britain, jet stream changes may bring warmer weather to UK - but there's uncertainty as to how long it'll last before we shift back into a damp rut once again.   I do have an inkling though that the meanders in the jet will shift a bit further later in August and we could see a rather hot end to the summer.  There's a lot of heat around elsewhere in the northern hemisphere this year, we jus...

It continues to look like summer weather is its way and we'll see some warmer, drier weather in the south of Britain next week.  But will it last for the Olympics? According to Boris Johnson , Piers has said that: We’re very confident that there will be a lot of rain – a deluge, really – during the entire Olympic period, and we are 80 per cent sure that the Opening Ceremony itself will feature heavy rain, including hail and thunder Current model output suggests as dry, but fairly cloudy, day and, indeed, weather forecast may improve in time for Games, say Met Office .  So we'll await the 27th July with interest.   Of course, Piers doesn't specifiy whether this heavy rain will be from a cold front sweeping in from the west or a Spanish plume bringing thunderstorms up from the south.   And no doubt if it's wet somewhere in Britain or France a day or so either side, for whatever reason, he'll claim, as usual, that he was right.  And on that not...

Weather sends SA into panic   with heavy rain and snow, roads blocked and at least 5 dead Deadly wave of tornadoes hit Poland   Breathtaking photos of northern lights show that solar storm only helped brighten the night sky - with the aurora visible not just across North America but in Britain too, as far south as Essex.   But not here - the cloud and rain arrived before it got dark.   Bridge washed away in Shropshire floods and trapped drivers rescued as flooding chaos continiues across part of Leicestershire   at the weekend.  After a fine, dry day on Sunday (so, if you believe in St Swithin's, break out the sunblock - unless you live in Scotland) it looks like we have another wet week ahead, but there are signs we could see an improvement, especially in the south, for next week. Rain 'almost apocalyptic' for wildlife, says National Trust .   Hmmm, I'm sure life in Britain has survived wet summers before ..... C...

Yet more flash floods in north Powys after heavy rain yesterday afternoon, with flood rescues as rivers rise in Shropshire.   We had a couple of mm of rain overnight and that was all, once again missing the 'action'. And some folk won't be too happen to read that hundreds of UK flood defence schemes unbuilt due to budget cuts - of course part of the problem is that when we have a cold winter, folk demand more money spent on snowploughs, when there's a drought they want the money spent on means to alleviate that and when there are floods it's flood defence that is seen as the priority.  And there is only so much money to go around (unless we all want to pay more taxes?).  The worry being that whilst we may see more of all of these in the future if current climate projections are correct.   And more windstorms as well. And talking of droughts, Stornoway water warning after Western Isles' dry summer - with some good news that drought keeping midg...

In Japan, Kyushu braces for more rain after 19 die in floods and landslides and nearly 50,000 ordered to flee - reports suggest 500mm of rain fell in some places on Thursday. Worst storm to slam Edmonton in eight years brings spectacular lightnings and floods Drought leads to declaration of natural disaster in 26 US States   Clean-up begins after flash flooding in the Mendips on Wednesday Wet weather may cause butterfly numbers to decline - though this previously happened in 2007 and most species soon bounced back.  And bad weather affects bird migration at Llanelli wetland centre with some autumn migrant arriving already.   There's also a rat warning as floods flush out pests . Three Britons killed in French Alpine avalanche 'Extreme' solar flare erupts, looks like storm is headed towards the Earth with a chance of some aurora this weekend American 'settled in three waves' - but the first and most important was some 15,000 year...

More disruption as flooding continues in Britain .  And there's a warning of significant flood risk in UK without more investment - cue the return of the drought ...... Meanwhile celebrity gardeners blamed for making floods worse by encouraging decking and patios - which is in fact true: decling and patios mean more run off and less rain absorbed directly into the ground.  And more flooding.   Though tarmac drives are even worse! However, if human activity is behind recent increased Arctic sea ice melt (which seems likely) then we may be responsible for our recent rain with melting ice caused by global warming blamed for wet summer .  Although the big Colorado fire has now been contained, crews battle winds, heat in wildfires across West Warm weather brings out red cockroaches in Naples  Lapland chills after night frost Taipei cooks on hottest day seen so far this summer Scientists attribute extreme weather to man-made...

Heavy rain, flooding closes roads in fire ravaged Colo. as US has hottest year since 1865 (when records began)  Though they mean 12 months period, not calendar year.   The full NOAA report is here . Britain braces for more rain and flooding chaos - looks like it could be rather wet here at the end of the week and with the ground now fairly saturated, the risk of river flooding is increasing. Flooding clear-up in Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge starts after the 3rd flash floods there in the space of 3 weeks And Michael Hanlon, in what looks a well researched piece, asks would someone please tell us why it won't stop raining? Wild and endangered animals 'perished in India floods' No end in sight for SA cold Smart headlight system has drivers seeing through the rain and snow Belgium tourism officials 'suing weather forecaster over rain predictions' - be interesting to see how this pans out.  Does this mean that we future we should only...

This was breaking news on Saturday morning with more details coming in over the weekend.   Russia in day of mourning for Krasdonar flood deaths   More pictures here . Puts our flooding into perspective, though still scant consulation for those affected.  The River Festival in Evesham was cancelled, though the river did not reach flood levels here. Freak storms, flash floods, record rain - and there's more to come Driver dies as northeast flood risk eases Homes and businesses wrecked as heavy rain storms causedevastaing flooding across Devon Somerset flood sheep rescue fire crew airlifted to safety More flooding hits parts of Scotland Wet summer may shut firms, says Wales Tourism Alliance Hosepipe bans: final four companies lift restrictions - not that anyone has much need to use a hosepipe!   And to avoid future problems we need to cut water use by 30% say Instituition of Civil Engineers In Europe, four dead as storms rage...

With a final total of 19.2mm of rain here yesterday it was my wettest day since last August - though not an unusual figure for the time of year.   More rain expected today though (in fact, the first of today's heavy showers is falling as I type).   Heavier rain elsewhere bringing flood problems around the country: Six rescued from North Yorkshire caravan park Flooding in East Yorkshire sparks calls to fire service Floods prompt M50 closure and Ross-on-Wye homes evacuated Drivers rescued from standed vehicles in Staffordshire In Wales, M50 closes and Gwynedd homes hit 30,000 fans asked to avoid Silverstone which is hosting the British F1 grand prix this weekend And on Thursday, tourists and baby rescued from floods on Isle of Mull But it's a tale of two climate as drought hits Western Isles And just in time, real-time flood map goes online So, are we drowning in rainy day blues ?   Is wet weather bad for business? ...

Another wet day in Britain with plenty of flood reports likely tomorrow with already events cancelled as 'tropical storm' heralds deluge across Yorksire .   In NI, there's been  severe flooding in Newcastle and Newry in County Down   whilst on Wednesday flooding problems in Scotland hit travellers . There was also a tornado in Todmorden (well, funnel cloud actually)  with another (not so?) rare funnel cloud seen over Marlborough It's just damp and drizzly here. Rain cools Colorado wildfires, but others in US West grow as firefighters battle wind Meanwhile, Midwest's hot sticky days give way to equally stifling nights offerring no relief I'll stick with our weather, thanks! And all this extreme heat raises climate change questions, concerns Alaska still shovelling snow after record year India floods: hundreds of animals killed in Assam Meteosat launches to maintain Europe's weather services Natural climate change shu...

Looks like July is aiming to outdo June in the 'miserable summer' stakes - with usettled, wet weather continuing for at least a couple more weeks.  Easy for forecasters though - the only issue is how heavy the rain will be!    Could well be more local flooding in quite a few places over the next few days.  As rain hits tourism and British crops - and more on the way , little wonder folk are asking why has our weather been so wet?    US heatwave sets more temperature records and in Chicago today they're predicting it could be the hottest July 4 on record?  100 in forecast, worse Thursday And the world braves one the worst summers; May temperature second hottest since 1880 - on a global scale, our cool wet weather really doesn't count for much .... Eight killed in Turkey flash floods Climate 'causes leaves to narrow' Controversy in SE Asia as Laos' work on the Mekon dam draws criticism Fish learn to cope in a high carb...

As expected, it was officially the wettest June of record Met Office figures show - though as previously mentioned, only the wettest since 2009 here and 3rd wettest in 6 years. Colorado Waldo Canyon fire battle gains ground US storm-hit millions swelter in heatwave   with the latest reports saying that over the weekend storm carnage kills at least 22 A new map shows the path of every tornado to hit the US in the last 60 years And with heat, wind, fire, wind, drought, floods: scientists call US summer a global warming preview - it does NOT mean that the weather there has been caused by global warming, but that is the world continues to warm as many predict, such conditions are likely to become more common. Forest fires ravage eastern Spain In Canberra,  mercury drops to -6.1c at Tuggeranong - but I was amazed to see that the average minimum there for July is -0.1c. which is colder than most towns and cities in Britain. Australia says higher chan...

Three killed in sudden North Carolina storm as D.C. to be in the dark for days after last weeks storms brought down power lines.   Storm-hit US states declare emergencies as eastern US battles heat wave amid power outages . D.C. derecho: storm that hit capital was fast, destructive - and rare In Colorado, residents return to burnt homes as death toll from US fires rises to 17 Exactly 300mm of rain for the first 6 months of 2012 here - which is just a few mm above average.   June was wet, but only the wettest since 2009 and 3rd wettest in my 6 years of records.  Which in fact makes it pretty normal for recent years!   However it was, by far, the coldest since my temp records began in 2003. However, overall, June was wettest since 1860 and dullest for 20 years  Scotland's weather: flaming June?  It was more like February (although the NW was very dry indeed) Wettest June sees Wales set for more rain But it's n...