Heavy rain over the last week has killed more than 70 people in Chennai, south India, and led to widespread flooding. The formation of a depression in the Bay of Bengal triggered torrential rain with 370mm (14in) falling in just 24 hours in Ponneri, a town north of Chennai.
In Chennai 10,000 people were evacuated as the streets became waterlogged and train tracks were submerged. A further 80,000 people were affected in northern parts of Sri Lanka.
A hailstorm in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Monday left the roofs of nearly 3,000 homes damaged and caused disruption to flights across South Africa as aircraft wings were damaged. High pressure over the south-east of South Africa led to favourable conditions for severe thunderstorms, which went on to whip up strong winds, golfball-sized hailstones and frequent lightning, particular over Gauteng and its surrounding areas.
Big fruit plantations were also badly damaged by the hail and local economic impacts were expected to be significant.
A large winter storm has been encompassing much of the US west over the past few days, bringing with it a multitude of severe weather conditions. On Monday several tornadoes touched down across northern Texas while heavy rain led to flooding in parts of Arkansas, which was also affected by winds that caused damage.
Further north and west the storm produced heavy snow across the Rocky Mountains of Colorado with up to 381mm of snow cover reported. Highways were closed as numerous accidents occurred during very icy conditions.
