Weather & Earth Science News

Don't tell Dumb and Dumber (the heads of BA and Ryanair who refused to accept that volcanic ash is any danger to their aircraft), but Indonesian volcanic ash cloud may halt Australian flights for days In India dust storm kills 12, snaps power across NCR as 114kmph Delhi storm batters planes, stalls metro Rain washes road away in Meissen, east Germany earlier this week And in Russia, dramatic floods hit Altai with fears of worse to come Middle East heatwave affects voting in Egypt whilst there's also a record May heat wave in northeast China, Korea And returning to the volcano theme, Australia's deadly eruptions were reason for the first mass extinction 510mya

A CCTV camera captures the rather scary moment when a tornado lifts car off ground in Birmingham last weekend  (not confirmed it was a tornado though) Flood-hit Norwich 'had month's rainfall in one day' on Tuesday.  And it's worth noting that even Evesham has had over one third of the month's normal rainfall in the past 2 days, with over 21mm in my garden (but considerably more in some parts of the Vale) - and overall it's been a much wetter than average May, though still nothing like 2007. Rainy weather does not make you sad, claims behavioural expert - yes it does!  When a big storm just misses you or a downpour peters out before it arrives.....!   Or am I the only one who watches the radar avidly in the hope that I'm going to catch the heaviest rain? Predicting UK weather: Can nature prove more reliable than satellites?    Despite the rain, early figures suggest third warmest spring on record for the UK - moreover, it was only be...

Close on a month's rain fell in parts of East Anglia yesterday (48.8mm at Wattisham - the 81-10 ave there is 51.9mm) as heavy rain causes flash flooding in Norwich with cars stuck as heavy rain causes flooding in Ipswich - which makes it utterly bizarre that James Madden (aka Exacta weather) has been spouting nonsense on Facebook about how the Met Office got it wrong because they forecast  40mm of rain and a risk of  flash flooding ..... !!!!!   A good way to build a reputation, though not the one you'd have thought James would want.  More rain and more flash flooding and travel disruption expected in parts of Central and Eastern England today.   Even Evesham had 6.7mm this morning! One dead as storms wreak havoc in Poland with more pictures here as torrential rain slams Europe Three feared dead as huge four mile long mudslide wipes out Colorado hillside Oil workers film tornado in North Dakota Research shows Americans care more deepl...

Canberra breaks 67-year autumn heatwave record whilst Sydney witnesses hottest May day in nearly a century today.  In contrast, NZ experienced the freeze after the storm Flying shed lands in shocked couple's garden during Birmingham storm  on Saturday Today, heavy rain causes flooding in Suffolk 'Supercharged' rainfall overwhelms Sakatoon storm sewers In China, southern rainstorms death toll up to 37 Colossal peat bog discovered in Congo And are babbling brooks adding to climate change?

Heatwave hits Hanoi with record temperatures ( Ogimet confims a max of 40c in Hanoi yesterday but according to this data , the highest temp ever recorded in Hanoi is 40.4c - so not actually a record, albeit close) And as hot weather continues in Sydney and other parts of SE Australia, warm start to winter ahead as May temperatures set record   In NZ, storm pounds Dunedin, Southland Apocalyptic storms dampened Memorial Day Weekend getaways in New York Arizona residents evacuate as fierce wildfire rages - and other wildfires continue in Alaska Immense clean-up in Balkans after flood of the century And more on humankind's ultimate legacy to the world as trillions of plastic pieces may be trapped in Arctic ice

Plenty of weather action in England and Wales yesterday, though of course all we had in Evesham was a bit of rain and a couple of rumbles of thunder.  Tornadoes spotted over Huntingdonshire (looks likely that at least one funnel cloud reached the ground), lightning strikes the Shard during London storm whilst heavy rain and storms bring flash floods to Wales and the incredible moment lightning strikes welsh village also caught on camera.  As the Daily Mail points out, as lightning hits the Shard, Chelsea visitors soaked and hailstones batter Britain: there must be a bank holiday coming up .....   In the US, massive hail & possible tornado hit the Northeast NZ sees roads closed as dreadful weather sets in Taipei rainfall smashes 107-year-old record Atlantic hurricane season in the US forecast to be slower than usual due to the developing El Nino Climate change research shows pockets of warming around the world - but surprise, surprise, not everywhere...

Snow closes roads in central Portugal and two dead as storms lash SW France - but in contrast, Italy set to swelter under 34c due to African wind and on Monday it was boiling Russia (translation) with the all time May temperature record for Estonia also beaten, and, indeed, all records of hot beaten in Russia (translation). Almost 600 missing, 29 dead, in Serbian floods whilst floods in eastern Croatia force thousands to flee and flood damage in Balkans exceeds that of 1990s wars Tornadoes, large hail, smack Colorado Stormchasers capture amazing images of mothership supercell storm forming over Nebraska Southern Australia's heatwave shows no sign of abating whilst the forecast El Nino likely to bring more hot and dry weather over South Australian winter and spring Carbon loss from tropical forests 'underestimated' - which wouldn't be such a problem if we didn't keep on burning and chopping them down for soya, palm oil and cheap furnitu...

State of emergency declared over wildfires in Irkutsk region of Siberia, whilst in Alaska wildfires grow in Southcentral, stretching firefighters thin Balkan floods: 'Quarter of Bosnia' without clean water as Serbia faces severe floods in Danube basin In Eire, summer on hold as torrential rain to last for days with roads washed away in minutes as flash flooding hits part of the country - they have, of course, had lots of thunderstorms this week, like parts of England and especially Wales.   Evesham has not even had any rain ..... Brazil's Sao Paulo turned white by freak hailstorm Greenland's long glacier fjords point to higher seas whilst soot, heat combined to create rare melt in Greenland in 2012 Unprecedented B.C. glacier melt seeps into US climate concerns Water 'goes missing' with snow loss And public interest in climate change unshaken by scandal, but unstirred by science

Fears of new surge on Serbia's River Sava and the death toll rises to 44 in worst ever Balkan flooding  whilst floods close four crossings on Croatian-Bosnia border .   And it's estimated that Bosnia floods trigger 3,000 landslides and unearth mines compounding the problem. Meanwhile, flood wave threatens southeast Poland as well, and there are also flood warnings across Austria   German earthquake damages 70 homes in Hesse Heat wave in Autumn 'warmest' in Australia since over a century (records only began in 1910) And how low will the Arctic' summer sea ice go?

At least five dead as worst floods in 120 years hit Serbia, Bosnia whilst  Bosnia deploys army to rescue flood victims and deluge in Serbia threatens Obrenovac .  Meanwhile, village in south experiences tornado, hailstorm, then snow on Wednesday. Also, torrential rains lash eastern Austria Here, we're apparently set for the hottest May on record ........ well yes.  And I'm a pink kangaroo who just won £10m on the lottery.   Needless to say it's Nathan Rao again.   But it is rather warm and sunny at the moment and likely to stay so across most of England and Wales until Monday, whereupon it looks like we'll get some heavy, slow moving showers for a few days,  Has Piers forecast thunderfloods I wonder? In Germany: whole family hit by lightning California wildfire 'flare-up' forces new evacuations - and another 'fire tornado' filmed as well.   Meanwhile, all of Calif. in severe drought for 1st time this century . ...

Storm chasers have a lucky escape when tornado formed beside their car and began to smash debris into it And another lucky escape as wind gust sends ‘bounce house’ 50 feet in the air in upstate N.Y., seriously injuring 2 boys who tumbled to ground with speculation a dust devil could have been responsible. Tornado spotted hanging over Narborough and another dramatic funnel cloud spotted in Northamptonshire during thunderstorm as UK is lashed with rain storms that bring dramatic thunder and lightning (needless to say, no thunder let alone funnel clouds in Evesham!) Odisha heat wave toll rises to 17 April was 2nd warmest globally; average for US Warm Texas wind blows green for Mars (the company, not the planet) And another twist in the 'Clovis comet' controversy as new research suggests comet theory false: doesn't explain Ice Age cold snap, Clovis changes, animal extinction - the dates of supposed impact indicators are not consistent.

Powerful spring storm drops more than a foot of snow on Colorado and Wyoming Meanwhile, Arizona township near Grand Canyon declares water crisis amid severe drought Where's the beach?  Days of torrential rain wash away Hong Kong sands as floods disrupt travel across China 'Nothing can stop retreat' of West Antarctic glaciers

Storm damages Indiana high school, destroys homes whilst s pring storm dumps snow on Colo., Wyo. and Kansas sees tornadoes as spring storm system hits Plains, West Thousands evacuated after rain triggers flooding in S China Wilder winds, less rain, as Roaring Forties become Furious Fifties and Australia becomes drier Pacific Ocean hit spot causing warming in the Arctic, scientists say   Newly-discovered active volcano could erupt underneath ice in Antarctica and add to effects of global warming, say scientists And Antarctic ice at record levels in April - but this does not mean that there is no global warming .....

Scorching El Nino event could scupper Englan's World Cup - well at least that gives them an excuse for heading home early ....! In Saudia Arabia, rains wreak havoc in Makkah, Hail We now have all the world's glaciers, mapped Is US government working on secret evacuation plan in case Yellowstone megavolcano erupts?   Well you'd hope so - it'll be too late should it one day show signs of eruption! And see 1,000 years of meteorite impacts in 30 seconds on new video animation

Fish rain down on Sri Lanka village - Charles Fort would be delighted! Storms bring damage to N Texas whilst tornadoes hit Colorado, Minnesota Meanwhile, "Oklahoma is burning": heat ignites temperature records, wildfires in Southern Plains And as the drought continues, meet the Californian ski resort praying for snow Non-stop ran floods homes in Cyprus.  Meanwhile, in Egypt floods in Red Sea coastal cities cause serious damage to homes, roads whilst there are heavy rains across Israel, flooding in the south In low-lying areas, a rain of terror hits Kochi in India El Nino chances exceed 65pct during summer - US weather forecaster Sentinel mission spies ice cap speed-up  One dead as quakes strike south Pakistan whilst strong earthquake of 6.4 magnitude hits Mexico And a new paper suggests that climate change not fully to blame for melting sea ice - although actually they mean carbon emission derived AGW not fully to blame for curren...

Bizarre mini tornado caught on camera in Worcester - or, more correctly, a not uncommon dust devil.  Warming 'increasingly disruptive' across US - report says April 'abnormally warm' month for NZ And this is a crazy image of a fire tornado in Missouri - or, just a rather good one.  Depending on whether you're American or British ....

Central Italy hit by severe flooding with reports of at least two fatalities Drought plagues Brazil's biggest city Ten dead on Odisha heatwave   Uncorking East Antarctica could yield unstoppable sea-level rise, simulations show And here's a surprise (not): global warming not uniform around the world: some areas were recently cooling - I thought it was only the so-called sceptics who expected everywhere to get warmer? New 'meteor storm' from comet may light up night sky later this month

Afghanistan landslide 'kills at least 350' with reports this morning sayong that more than 2100 confirmed dead in Afghan landslides - by far the biggest natural disaster this year to date. In Florida, Tampa Bay area hit hard with storms, flooding, tornado warnings Video of walls of ice from Lake Mille Lacs crashing into homes and local resort Snow has fallen in parts of NSW during the first cold outbreak of the year And a new play tells the story of James Stagg and the weather forecast that changed D-Day

Be careful where you park: dramatic video of sinkhole swallowing cars in Charles Village, Baltimore whilst a mudslide spills into Port Washington, Long Island parking lot after heavy rain brought by the same storm system that produced deadly tornadoes earlier this week.  Further south, Florida flooded after 24 hours non-stop rain as stories of rescues, devastation emerge from floods .   And from fierce tornadoes to mudslides: What are the numbers behind the storm? After record high summer temperatures, Adelaide experiences coldest start to May ever Afghan flood death toll rises as thousands need aid Hydro-electric blamed for deadly floods in Uttarkhand last year Not an April (or even May Day) fool, smart umbrellas 'could collect rain data' - still wouldn't catch me using one of those ridiculous lethal things! A study shows how small changes could save structures, lives during tornadoes Climate change to intensify important African weather sy...