World extreme weather events of ‘monster’ heatwaves, snowpacks and floods – and warnings of what’s to come
Extreme weather is gripping parts of the world amid growing fears this summer could see more record-breaking heat.
There have already been wildfires across Spain as temperatures soar to unprecedented levels for the time of the year – while the increasing impact of climate change continues to challenge communities and nations.
Which parts of the world are seeing extreme conditions?
Spain
Spain is bracing itself for its hottest ever day for the month of April this week with forecasters predicting temperatures of up to 40C (104F).
Temperatures will reach around 35C (95F) from Wednesday and will rise further into Thursday and Friday.
Such high levels are not normally seen until July and it comes after parts of Spain endured the driest March in 20 years.
The top temperature ever recorded in Spain for April was 37.4C (99.3F) in 2011, but this is expected to be beaten.
Experts have said the Mediterranean region is warming faster than the global average due to climate change.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Record-breaking heat could hit Spain
Asia
Last weekend, people in Bangkok and other areas of Thailand were warned not to go outside due to the extreme heat.
The capital hit 42C (100F) – but the national weather service said the heat index, which is what the temperature feels like when combined with humidity, hit a record 54C (129F).
Thailand normally expects highs of 37C (98.6F) at this time of the year – while weather watchers said the country’s meteorological service noted a record 45C (113F) for the first time last week.
Cordelia Lynch, Asia correspondent for Sky News, said many people “try to scurry between air-conditioned buildings as much as they can – a luxury those working outside can’t afford of course”.
“The so-called ‘monster deadly heatwave’ has ripped through southeast and south Asia,” she added.
“What seems distinct in Asia this year, is just how many countries have seen record heat and how early it’s come.”
In recent weeks, countries such as Japan, Bangladesh, India, China and Laos were among more than a dozen which saw soaring temperatures.
Authorities in parts of India shut schools for a week with temperatures above 40C.
Most of India is expected to have above-normal high temperatures between April and June, its national weather forecaster has said.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Record-breaking heatwave hits parts of Thailand
California
Meanwhile, in central California, fears are growing over flooding following extreme conditions which saw record levels of “snowpack” and rain.
Some communities between Los Angeles and San Francisco could be marooned by rising rivers or flooded out, experts have warned.
Officials are concerned the spring snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada will be so massive the north fork of the Kings River will not be able to contain it.
Much warmer weather could see an “accelerated snowmelt”.
It comes after nearly 10,000 Californians fled their homes last month after widespread flooding and snow.
What could happen in 2023 and 2024?
Average global temperatures could hit record highs this year or in 2024, climate scientists have warned.
Experts said the temperatures will be driven by climate change and from the anticipated return of the El Nino weather phenomenon.
Climate models suggest that after three years of the La Nina weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean, which generally lowers global temperatures slightly, the world will experience a return to El Nino, the warmer counterpart, later this year.
During El Nino, winds blowing west along the equator slow down, and warm water is pushed east, creating warmer surface ocean temperatures.
“El Nino is normally associated with record-breaking temperatures at the global level. Whether this will happen in 2023 or 2024 is not yet known, but it is, I think, more likely than not,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
The world’s hottest year on record so far was 2016, which coincided with a strong El Nino.
However, climate change has fuelled extreme temperatures even in years without the phenomenon.
In February, Antarctic sea ice levels also hit a record low.
What major weather-related events are experts predicting?
Scientists have warned of more extreme heatwaves, wildfires, drought and flooding.
The last eight years were the world’s eighth hottest on record – reflecting the longer-term warming trend driven by greenhouse gas emissions.
Dr Friederike Otto, a senior lecturer at Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute, said El Nino-fuelled temperatures could worsen the climate change impacts countries are already experiencing.
“If El Nino does develop, there is a good chance 2023 will be even hotter than 2016 – considering the world has continued to warm as humans continue to burn fossil fuels,” Dr Otto said.
Professor Adam Scaife, the head of long-range forecasting at the Met Office, said: “The current record for global temperature occurred in 2016 and it’s no coincidence that followed the last big El Nino.
“If we get a big El Nino at the end of this year, then we’re likely to break the record for global temperature in 2024.”
Europe experienced its hottest summer on record in 2022, while extreme rainfall caused disastrous flooding in Pakistan.
In the UK, households and water companies are already being urged to focus on saving water as officials prepare for another dry, hot summer.
This week, a hosepipe ban was extended across parts of Devon.
South West Water, which introduced a ban in Cornwall and a small area of North Devon last August, made the decision to “replenish” depleted water supplies.
Read more on Sky News:
While Spain bakes, the approaching summer could be a scorcher
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2022 was a year of weather extremes in the UK
What about the oceans?
It was revealed by a new study that global sea temperatures had hit record levels this month – and are growing at a rate not previously seen.
The temperature of the seas off the coast of North America were 13.8C higher than the average for 1981-2011.
A change in the temperatures of the oceans can have a further impact on extreme weather alongside contributing to the rise in sea levels. It can also kill off marine life.
It comes after the World Meteorological Organisation revealed last week that global sea levels are rising at more than double the pace they did in the first decade of measurements in 1993-2002 and hit a new record high last year.
World
‘At least 798 killed’ at Gaza aid points – as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high
At least 798 people in Gaza have reportedly been killed while receiving aid in the past six weeks – while acute malnutrition is said to have reached an all-time high.
The UN human rights office said 615 of the deaths – between 27 May and 7 July – were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” said Ravina Shamdasani, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Its figures are based on a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries, and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), its partners on the ground, and Hamas-run health authorities.
Aid agency Project Hope said on Thursday that 10 children were among at least 15 people killed as they waited for its clinic in Deir al Balah to open.
Ten children were reportedly killed when Israel attacked near a clinic on Thursday. Pic: AP
The GHF has claimed the UN figures are “false and misleading” and has repeatedly denied any violence at or around its sites.
Meanwhile, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – also known as Doctors Without Borders – said two of its sites were seeing their worst-ever levels of severe malnutrition.
Cases at its Gaza City clinic are said to have tripled from 293 in May to 983 in early July.
“Over 700 pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly 500 children are now receiving emergency nutritional care,” MSF said.
The humanitarian medical charity said food prices were at extreme levels, with sugar at $766 (£567) per kilo and flour $30 (£22) per kilo, and many families surviving on one meal of rice or lentils a day.
It’s a major concern for the estimated 55,000 pregnant women in Gaza, who risk miscarriage, stillbirth and malnourished infants because of the shortages.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the coastal territory.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
US aid contractors claim live ammo fired at Palestinians
It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip.
The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.
Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.
The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what it says is a suspicious manner.
It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies from falling into the hands of militants.
Read more:
GHF aid distribution linked to increased deaths
Gaza situation ‘apocalyptic’, says UN expert
After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
In response, a GHF spokesperson said: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”
The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.
At least 798 people in Gaza have been killed while receiving aid in six weeks, the UN human rights office has said.
A spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said 615 of the killings were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
The office said its figures are based on numbers from a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as NGOs, its partners on the ground and the Hamas-run health authorities.
The GHF has claimed the figures are “false and misleading”. It has repeatedly denied there has been any violence at or around its sites.
The organisation began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the enclave.
It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip. The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.
Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
US aid contractors claim live ammo fired at Palestinians
The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what they say is a suspicious manner.
It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies falling into the hands of militants.
Read more:
GHF aid distribution linked to increased deaths
Gaza situation ‘apocalyptic’, says UN expert
After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
In response, a GHF spokesperson told the Reuters news agency: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”
The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.
Ten children and two women are among at least 15 killed in an airstrike near a Gaza health clinic, according to an aid organisation.
Project Hope said it happened this morning near Altayara Junction, in Deir al Balah, as patients waited for the clinic to open.
The organisation’s president called it a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no one and no place is safe in Gaza“.
“No child waiting for food and medicine should face the risk of being bombed,” added the group’s project manager, Dr Mithqal Abutaha.
“It was a horrific scene. People had to come seeking health and support, instead they faced death.”
Operations at the clinic – which provides a range of health and maternity services – have been suspended.
Some of the children were reportedly waiting to receive nutritional supplements, necessary due to the dire shortage of food being allowed into Gaza.
Israel‘s military is investigating and said it was targeting a militant who took part in the 7 October terror attack.
“The IDF [Israel Defence Force] regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible,” added.
The deaths come as an agreement over a 60-day truce hangs in the balance – with President Trump cautiously saying it could happen “this week, or next week”.
Elsewhere in Gaza, the Nasser Hospital reported another 21 deaths in airstrikes in Khan Younis and in the nearby coastal area of Muwasi.
It said three children and their mother were among the dead.
Israel said its troops have been dismantling more than 130 Hamas infrastructure sites in Khan Younis over the past week, including missile launch sites, weapons storage facilities and a 500m tunnel.
On Wednesday, a soldier was shot dead when militants burst out of a tunnel and tried to abduct him, the military added.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Do Trump and Netanyahu really get along?
Eighteen soldiers have been killed in the past three weeks – one of the deadliest periods for the Israeli army in months.
A 22-year-old Israeli man was also killed on Thursday by two attackers in a supermarket in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said the Magen David Adom emergency service.
People on site reportedly shot and killed the attackers but information on their identity has so far not been released.
Read more:
IDF chief says conditions ‘created’ for Gaza ceasefire
What is the possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal ?
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Lack of food and water ‘lethal’ for Gaza children
Negotiations over a proposed 60-day ceasefire are ongoing and President Trump reportedly put “heavy” pressure on Israel’s leader, who visited the US this week.
A major sticking point is said to be the status of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire and beyond, should it last longer.
However, Sky News understands the Israeli government thinks the chances of a permanent truce are “questionable”.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war – more than half are women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.
Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
The war began in October 2023 after Hamas killed around 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 251 others.
Some of them remain In Gaza and are a crucial part of ceasefire negotiations, which also include a planned surge in humanitarian aid into the strip.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike