Severe thunderstorms developed across the Iberian peninsula on Wednesday, with Aemet, the Spanish meteorological service, issuing an orange weather warning across much of the country.
These thunderstorms were triggered by a cold front passing eastward across Iberia, due to a deep area of low pressure situated just to the north-west of Spain in the Atlantic Ocean, which at its lowest had a central pressure of 989hPa.
There was heavy rain across Iberia, with more than 30mm falling in just 24 hours across Galicia, where more localised totals reached 60mm, leading to some surface flooding. Parts of Castilla y León also had high totals, with the town of Cáceres recording 50mm in 24 hours, with flooding making roads impassable. There were reports of large hail, notably in southern Spain, where a 6cm hailstone was spotted in Cádiz, Andalucía.
Strong winds also battered Iberia, notably along the north coast of Spain, where gusts of 55mph were widespread. More locally, gusts reached 65mph, and one gust of 99mph was reported in Ouria, Asturias, in north-west Spain.
Other parts of Europe also had severe flooding earlier this week, with more than 60mm of rain on the island of Skiathos, Greece, on Wednesday. This rain developed thanks to an upper air cut-off low, a weather pattern that is conducive to heavy rain.
Meanwhile, Typhoon Kalmaegi, also known as Tino, brought fierce winds and torrential rain to south-east Asia this week. The cyclone formed on 31 October in the western Pacific Ocean, then travelled westward towards the Philippines, where it made landfall at strength equivalent to a category 2 hurricane on Tuesday. Winds reached around 80mph, and flash flooding caused by the heavy rainfall swept away cars and riverside homes in strong currents. There have been 188 people confirmed dead with 135 still missing. About 500,000 people were displaced.
Kalmaegi then continued westwards across the South China Sea towards Vietnam. Despite weakening slightly as it passed over the Philippines, it restrengthened as it headed towards Vietnam, making landfall on Thursday with the intensity of a category 3 hurricane, with winds up to 93mph, and waves 10 metres high off the Vietnamese coast. Flooding, power outages, uprooted trees, torn-off roofs and additional damage resulted, with one death reported as being due to a house collapse. About 260,000 people have been evacuated.
