Prolonged and torrential downpours have affected southern and western Japan late last week and into the weekend. Deep tropical moisture generated storms, which produced damaging flooding and landslides, leading to the advised evacuation of more than 1 million people. Several people are believed to have died, and worst hit was the Kyushu region, where some weather stations recorded more than 1,000mm (39in) of rain in less than a week. More torrential rain is expected in the same regions this week.
Meanwhile, across the other side of the Pacific, north-western parts of the US have been enduring yet more searing temperatures, with excessive heat alerts issued by the National Weather Service. Washington, Oregon and northern California recorded particularly high temperatures into last weekend, reaching 42C (108F) in places. While not as extreme as the heatwave earlier in the summer, further wildfires were triggered.
The severe heatwave conditions across southern Europe continued into last weekend. After a recorded temperature of 48.8C at Syracuse in Sicily, potentially the highest-ever temperature recorded in Europe and which has yet to be confirmed by the World Meteorological Organisation, the hottest conditions moved to Spain and Portugal late last week. 47.2C was recorded in Montoro in the Andalucía region of Spain on Saturday, potentially breaking Spain’s highest-ever temperature record if verified.
