After the extreme rainfall in Texas on 4 July, the flash flooding risk moved to New Mexico, with 89mm (3.5in) of rain falling in the Rio Ruidoso catchment area on Tuesday.
In the town of Ruidoso, 35 homes were swept away and three people died. The National Weather Service attributed the extreme event to the wildfires that devastated the same area in 2024.
Burn scars caused by wildfires remove vegetation that helps to stop rainwater from flowing above ground into rivers, increasing the risk of a flash flood.
More rain is expected in New Mexico and Texas at the weekend.
In Taiwan, Typhoon Danas made landfall on Monday as a category 2 storm, killing two people and injuring 700, before moving back over water to the north of the country. In Mudan, 457mm of rain fell, causing dykes to overflow and landslides. Despite weakening over Taiwan, Danas took a slow west turn towards China’s east coast where it made landfall on Wednesday, bringing prolonged heavy rainfall.
In the city of Zhaotong, 7,000 people were evacuated as 230mm of rain fell in 24 hours. The rain came after an intense heatwave that has been affecting central and eastern China in the past few weeks.
Severe storms struck eastern Europe on Monday, disrupting transport in Hungary and Serbia. Budapest airport was closed temporarily because of flooding at one of the terminal buildings and to clear debris that had blown on to the runways. The closure caused a number of flight diversions to neighbouring airports. Wind speeds up to 100mph brought down overhead lines on the railways in Hungary, cancelling many services.
Southern and eastern Europe have been on high alert for severe storms this summer and into autumn owing to a record-breaking marine heatwave in the Mediterranean. Sea surface temperatures, particularly in the western Mediterranean, have been up to 5C above average for the time of year, providing extra fuel for convective weather. Such extreme sea temperatures have been caused by hot and calm weather over southern Europe, as well as the continuing effects of climate breakdown.
