Weather & Earth Science News

Storm Jorge: Flood-hit areas braced for more severe weather with a "critical incident" declared in Wales.  Cardiff saw a month's rain fall yesterday.   Whilst across in Ireland, wind is the bigger concern with Storm Jorge: 'Extremely hazardous' conditions expected with winds of 150kph, snow and ice  In Peru, a m elting glacier triggers deadly flood at the foot of Machu Picchu Saharan sandstorms hit parts of West Africa And how much does black carbon contribute to climate warming?

And a bit of snow ......   But we never saw any in Evesham.  So a snow-free winter here.  Again. Now for Storm Jorge! Third consecutive weekend of misery starts with another month of rain falling today .  Confusingly, the storm was named by the Spanish Met Agency, although it isn't impacting Spain ....   And it's not just the Severn seeing record flooding; East Yorkshire flooding worsens as residents evacuated from homes Meanwhile, yesterday, whilst it missed us, a smattering of light snow in London sparks hilarious predictions of anarchy including delays, school closures and for everything to 'grind to a halt in 15 minutes' But whilst we're wet, across the other side of the world, California suffers its driest February in 150 years - more drought and wildfires to come. A narrow Kansas snow stripe could be seen from planes and satellites - up to 13 inches of snow fell in a band that in places was just 7 miles wide .... Telescopes detect 'biggest e...

Bursting the barricades: River Severn finally begins to consume Bewdley ,  and there is more rain on the way this weekend.  But, before then, could we see snow in Evesham?  Certainly I think the Cotswolds will see some tomorrow morning.  Stay tuned .... Winter storm sweeps across the Levant and Arabia Torrential rain floods Jakarta Let it snow: Quantifiable observation of cloud seeding - proving it works, but doesn't necessarily make that much difference to the amount of snow cover. And watermelon snow: Remarkable pictures show the Antarctic turning red near a former British research station due to microscopic algae that can survive in freezing temperatures

Some apocalyptic scenes in the Canary Islands sandstorm: Flights disrupted as dust cloud strands tourists Meanwhile, guess what?  More flooding in soggy Britain as more flooding across Scotland leaves cars submerged on Saturday, whilst the 'highest ever' peak could be recorded at Shrewsbury today.  And it's currently raining here .... whilst further north snow starts to fall on Scotland's road network and snow and rain force closure of 250 schools in northern England And we're not the only ones who are wet as several south-western Swedish towns on high alert after rivers burst their banks whilst with five days to go, February is already wettest in Denmark for 150 years Tropical Cyclone Esther makes landfall in Gulf of Carpentaria An earthquake kills at least 9 in Turkey, injures many in Iran And in NZ's Northland drought: 'Real risk' drinking water will become too salty in coastal towns

Through the week there's been no let-up as flood warnings continue and yesterday there were vehicles left stranded by heavy flooding in Renfrewshire whilst early this morning firefighters rescue people from cars in Dolgellau floodwater More rain is expected tonight ... Why do drivers keep misjudging flooded fords?   Because they are drivers: the only people on the planet even more arrogant and lacking in common sense than politicians .... (I have no sympathy!) And the head of the Environment Agency warns that this type of flooding 'is going to get worse' In the US, Winter Storm Nash brings largest snowfall to North Carolina and Virginia in two years Several students killed in Indonesia flash flood Satellite images reveal that 20 per cent of snow cover on an Antarctic island melted in just 10 days during a heatwave earlier this month A NASA image reveals remains of an ancient lake that stretched 150,000 square miles across the Sahara 7,000 y...

Parts of UK could see a month's rain in 24 hours amid floods and why Wales is prone to landslides Fallen trees and power outages after Sydney battered by storm Historic flood waters in Mississippi will recede later this week There's been a massive vehicle pileup in Canada involving 200 cars after whiteout conditions on Quebec highway East Africa's locust swarms: South Sudan latest to be hit by invasion It's suggested in a new study that oil and gas firms 'have had far worse climate impact than thought' And video footage shows what happened when NOAA’s hurricane hunter ‘Kermit’ meets St. Elmo’s fire as it flies through lightning storm in the clouds

Flood warnings as River Wye reaches record high whilst the Severn is close to record levels as well with dozens evacuated as severe flood warnings remain and Storm Dennis clean-up goes on in Newcastleton and elsewhere in Scotland. The Met Office explains why huge lone lightning bolt hit Bristol during Storm Dennis Hundreds of thousands of mussels cooked to death on New Zealand beach in heatwave And another geoengineering idea out the window?  Seeding oceans with iron may not impact climate change

After Storm Dennis flood-hit Britons brace for more misery today with 689 regions on alert and roads and rails still in chaos with roads in Wales 'impassable' as flood clean-up begins after mountains and roads hit by landslides .  A young girl 'amazingly' escapes tree fall on Bristol flats . In Northern Ireland, shopfronts collapse in high winds of Storm Dennis .  And in Scotland wind warnings follow Storm Dennis flooding .    More strong winds and rain are expected this week and in some areas flooding could get worse as major rivers continue to rise.   Evesham has seen just "normal winter" flooding, after what is already a much wetter than average February, with the equiavlent of over half the month's average rain falling at the weekend. It's also been wet in parts of the USA where more rain this month means winter rainfall records broken across the southeastern US A French ski resort uses helicopters to deliver snow for bare slopes In Czec...

Storm Dennis: Experts warn flooding could be worse than Ciara although the winds won't be quite as bad for most.  Scottish peatbogs study secures almost £1m funding which is a little ironic as one area of peat moor looks set to be lost as plans lodged for Sutherland satellite launch site on the Mhoine. A senior Environment Agency official issues coastal floods warning in UK as sea levels rise So, how much rain did it take to put out NSW fires?   More than 400mm in some place Why wildfire smoke may cause life-long harm NASA flights detect millions of Arctic methane hotspots And astronomers want public funds for intelligent life search - although this may confuse mamy Americans who think space aliens are already here ....  

It continues to warm up in the south as Antarctic island hits record temperature of 20.75C This week's heavy snowfalls boost winter sports centres in the Highlands, and there's likely more to come with extensive drifting this weekend thanks to Storm Dennis.   Not as bad a winter as '89 after all .... Earlier in the week, severe winds blow roof off national school in Mayo And in North Wales, nine homes evacuated after landslide in Conwy county - with growing concerns of more landslides and flooding across Britain as a lot of heavy rain is expected this weekend Man injured as East Cowes 'tornado' hurls stones through roof More flash flooding, hail and damaging winds hit Melbourne as storms sweep across Victoria Kimberley family lucky to survive after freak storm batters remote community Heavy rain and mudslides kill eight in Bolivia A good piece on why geoengineering our climate raises serious ethical, scientific challenges And how t...

After Storm Ciara: More wind and rain to bring further disruption to many parts of the country next weekend, particularly for Wales as Storm Dennis to bring heavy rain and gales to the UK .  Meanwhile, Storm Ciara kills at least seven in Europe .  And overnight, the local mountain rescue team called out to stranded drivers in Dumfries-shire In the US, the South gets soaked! 17 million are on flood alert as slow moving storm dumps rain from Texas to North Carolina A bush and peat fire burning for 210 days in NSW declared 'out' in wake of weekend deluge whilst more rain in Queensland as flooding cuts roads, inundates homes on Western Downs, severe storms hit Sunshine Coast .  And there's yet more rain expected as Tropical Cyclone Uesi powers towards New South Wales and Queensland coasts There's been unusual cold weather in Turkey: Temperatures dropped to - 40C Deforested parts of Amazon 'emitting more CO2 than they absorb' And a sa...

Storm Ciara claims two victims in England, whilst in Scotland, where they've had a wee bit of snow (not much for February though) the"all weather" Queensferry Crossing could be shut until Wednesday due to falling ice. Meanwhile, Storm Sabine in Prague led to 280 emergency calls — injuries and damage reported and there are two dead after storm rips off roof in Polish ski resort A Himalayan glacier shows evidence of start of Industrial Revolutio And whilst much of England has yet to see a single flake this winter (and probably wont), ultra-rare snowfall carpets Baghdad  

As expected, a lot of transport disruption yesterday and also some nasty flooding as flyaway trampolines cause rail delays and Storm Ciara leaves Yorkshire Dales and Pennines towns under water as barriers built five years ago catastrophically fai l whilst in the Borders, the moment popular Hawick restaurant collapses into raging river Teviot is caught on video.  Meanwhile today disruption continues with snow and ice set to hit in the north. In Eire, s now, ice and 'freezing wind chill' follow chaos of Storm Ciara as nation is hit by 130kmh gusts And there's m ajor disruption as storm Sabine wreaks havoc across Germany   with trains, flights and ferries cancelled as Storm Ciara batters northwest Europe But there were some benefits from the winds as Storm Ciara helps plane beat transatlantic flight record whilst in Finland the storm causes short-lived negative electricity prices In Australia, more Sydney rains: Record rainfall brings flooding but puts out...

This winter is very reminiscent of 1989 .....  So when asking why is there less snow on Scotland's mountains this year? we might consider that it's not necessarily global warming.   Though maybe it is. Meanwhile, Storm Ciara kicks in! Britain's biggest storm in seven years sweeps into Scotland as rest of UK are warned to avoid trains tomorrow when 80mph gales batter nation .  And for once, a named storm looks like affecting most of the country.     Tropical Cyclone Damien brings rain, gale force winds to WA's Pilbara And these waters off Tasmania's east coast are warming up to four times faster than global average

BOM forecasts intense, prolonged rain as flash flooding hits northern NSW and Sydney whilst Queensland's heavy rain continues with flash flooding and Brisbane's peak hour traffic disrupted but at least this week's heavy rain extinguishes third of blazes in NSW In the US there's been a lot of damage and at least three deaths as a result of deadly winter storms sweeping across the south causing flooding whilst blizzards bring widespread disruption to Rocky Mountain area Not just the UK that's had a mild winter with little snow, even in the hills as French Pyrenees ski station closes due to lack of snow But if it's still too cold for you, why not head far south for some warmth?  Antarctica logs hottest temperature on record with a reading of 18.3C Ocean temperatures impact Central American climate more than once thought And how citizen science discovers a new form of the northern lights

At least 38 people dead, 33 of them rescuers as avalanche in Turkey kills dozens of rescuers responding to earlier slide Storm Ciara named by Met Office and set to impact much of the British Isles on Sunday and Monday Cyclone Damien upgraded, now predicted to be category four when it crosses WA Pilbara coast meanwhile, after the drought and heat, there's now the ‘heaviest rain in years’ hitting Australia’s east coast At least 2 die as bad weather batters Eastern Europe According to climate experts: white winters in Czechia to become increasingly rare whilst across the Atlantic the snow season is getting shorter across most of the U.S., new analysis finds How climate change may be speeding up ocean circulation And down in Antarctica, the world's biggest iceberg makes a run for it

Last month was the warmest January on record globally - with temperatures in Europe 0.4°F higher than the previous warmest January in 2007 And this week temperatures reached new record of 27°C in Italy New Zealand floods: first ever red weather warning issued as thousands evacuated but elsewhere there's a heatwave: Inland of Gisborne soars to record-breaking 40C this afternoon and drought with a 'very real prospect' some Far North towns could run dry Cyclone Damien set to form off WA coast before hitting Karratha this weekend In the US: Blizzards bring widespread disruption to Rocky Mountain area   Roads, railways and homes flooded as heavy rain hits Germany Trucks blown off road, airport shut as stormy winds hit Norilsk in Arctic Siberia And there's less methane released from Arctic Ocean than previously believed

For Australia, the heatwave is over! East coast to be hit with a week-long rain blast - as snow is forecast just days after temperatures soared past 40C with record highs in Hobart, whilst Canberra records highest minimum overnight temperature as city swelters In the US, a powerful storm hits West Coast, set to track East - and spare a thought for the people of Forks where it rained every single day in January.  And across the border, a wet January for B.C.'s South Coast results in local states of emergency, flooding and road closures And dry, hot summers could become 'norm' in Scotland - which suits me just fine!

Earlier in the week, ACT in state of emergency as Namadgi's Orroral Valley bushfire is upgraded to highest level as  Clear Range bushfire closes Monaro highway whilst more properties destroyed near Bredbo as four fires remain at emergency level in NSW Meanwhile there was a power cut to Adelaide hospital and Port Lincoln as flash flooding hits SA and the weekend sees oppressive, humid conditions for southern Australia as heatwave combines with tropical airmass .  The heatwave has spread across the Tasman Sea too with more 30+ degree temperatures set to linger around NZ Red alert as Arctic lands grow greener And scientists find record warm water in Antarctica, pointing to cause behind troubling glacier melt