India, US and Japan hit by landslides, heat warnings and deadly flash floods in week of wild world weather
Countries around the world are experiencing extreme weather from landslides and flash flooding to scorching temperatures.
In some areas, its caused casualties, triggered evacuations and further weather warnings. Here, we take a look at some of the most recent events and why they may be happening.
In Japan, the highest-level heavy rain warning was issued in parts of the Fukuoka and Oita prefectures in Kyushu – the country’s third-largest island.
Two people have died and six others were missing according to officials, as authorities urged tens of thousands of residents to move out of areas in danger of more landslides and flooding.
Some parts of Fukuoka have been hit with more than 600mm of rain since Friday, more than usually falls in the whole of July, media reported.
Director of forecast division at Japan’s Meteorological Agency, Satoshi Sugimoto, said another 100mm of rain is expected up to early on Tuesday.
“The land ministry said eight rivers had burst their banks from continuous rain since late last month turned into mudslides.
Mr Sugimoto said: “The rain is becoming so heavy unlike anything seen before.”
Pic: The Yomiuri Shimbun/AP
Houses and rice field flooded in Kurume, Fukuoka prefecture. Pic: The Yomiuri Shimbun/AP
As of Monday 1,820 households were without power while 60 homes had no water, a government spokesperson said.
The weather bureau said there was a 90% chance that the El Nino phenomenon, a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific, would continue into the autumn.
India
Meanwhile in northern India, torrential rain has caused landslides and flash flooding as schools in New Delhi were closed after heavy rains lashed the national capital over the weekend.
Authorities and local media said on Monday that at least 22 people have died.
Many districts in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh received a month’s rainfall in a day at the weekend, a senior weather department official said.
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Dramatic rescue over India flood waters
Delhi, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh have received 112%, 100% and 70% more rainfall than average so far in the current monsoon season that started on 1 June, the department added. Authorities used helicopters to rescue people stranded on roads and bridges because of the rain.
Himachal Pradesh’s Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu urged people to “stay inside” their homes as more heavy rain was expected.
Record set for world’s hottest day
The extreme weather comes as the world recorded its hottest day on record last Thursday, breaking previous highs set on Monday and Tuesday as global average temperatures continue to climb.
Experts have blamed a combination of climate change and an emerging El Nino weather pattern.
The global average temperature hit 17.23C on Thursday, according to data from the US National Centers on Environmental Prediction.
China
In China, torrid heat has gripped the country for several weeks, pushing local governments to ask residents and businesses to curb the usage of electricity.
Weather forecasters issued a string of heat advisories across northern parts of the country last Thursday, as temperatures were expected to breach 40C in some areas, stressing taxed power grids.
Beijing issued a red warning, the highest in a three-tier alert system, as other alerts were also issued in the northern Hebei province, Shaanxi, Henan and Shandong provinces.
Weather experts have predicted the extreme temperatures could eclipse last year’s scorching spell, which lasted for more than two months.
United States
Heavy rainstorms also poured over parts of New York and Pennsylvania on Sunday, as emergency services rescued people stuck in vehicles along flooded roadways.
Rescue teams in Hudson Valley found the body of a woman in her 30s. She is reported to have drowned after being swept away while trying to evacuate her home, Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus told WABC-TV
Online footage showed rushing flood waters in Stony Point, a small town on the Hudson River about 40 miles north of Manhattan.
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Bryan Jackson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Centre, said a weather pattern more typical of cooler months had built over the Canadian province of Ontario and was interacting with the regular summer moisture.
The centre issued its first-ever high-risk warning, the highest level on a four-step scale, for the area surrounding Burlington, Vermont, on Monday.
“We expect considerable to locally catastrophic impacts,” Mr Jackson said.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has been linked to a second group chat about sensitive military operations, which he reportedly shared with his wife, brother and personal lawyer.
The messages sent via the Signal messaging app are again understood to have contained details of an attack on Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis in March.
The second chat group, initially reported by The New York Times, included about a dozen people. It revealed details of the schedule of the airstrikes, according to the Reuters news agency.
Two sources with knowledge of the matter told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News there were 13 people in the second chat group, and Mr Hegseth divulged the information despite an aide warning him about using an unsecure communications system.
Mr Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, has attended sensitive meetings with foreign military counterparts, while his brother was hired at the Pentagon as a Department of Homeland Security liaison and senior adviser.
Military details from the first chat group were revealed by a journalist from The Atlantic magazine who was accidentally added to the Signal app by national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Mr Hegseth then shared sensitive information with cabinet officials about last month’s airstrike on targets in Yemen, which was later leaked.
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Mike Waltz (left) and Pete Hegseth (right) have used Signal to discuss sensitive government matters. Pic: AP
‘A non-story,’ says White House
But the White House has consistently defended Mr Hegseth.
Donald Trump dismissed the original leak as “something that can happen”.
Responding to the latest chat group, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said: “No matter how many times the legacy media tries to resurrect the same non-story, they can’t change the fact that no classified information was shared.
“Recently-fired ‘leakers’ are continuing to misrepresent the truth to soothe their shattered egos and undermine the President’s agenda, but the administration will continue to hold them accountable.”
The “leakers” referred to in the White House statement are four senior officials who were ousted from the Pentagon last week as part of an internal leak investigation.
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Leaked war plans: ‘Fairly serious’
‘Hegseth put lives at risk’
The New York Times reported that the second chat – named “Defence | Team Huddle” – was created on Mr Hegseth’s private phone.
It detailed the same warplane launch times as the first chat.
Several former and current officials have said sharing those operational details before a strike would have certainly been classified, and their release could have put pilots in danger.
Democratic politicians have repeatedly called for Mr Hegseth to step down.
“We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk,” Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said in a post on X.
“But [Donald] Trump is still too weak to fire him. Pete Hegseth must be fired.”
The latest claims about Mr Hegseth emerged as Yemen’s Houthi rebels reported another wave of US airstrikes on Sunday, including on the capital Sanaa.
The Houthis said at least 12 people had been killed, with 30 more injured.
The US says its bombing campaign is in response to Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes.
DHL Express is suspending some shipments to the US as Donald Trump’s new tariff regime takes effect.
From 21 April, shipments worth more than $800 (£603) to US consumers from “any origin” will be temporarily suspended.
New rules that came into effect at the start of April made such shipments subject to increased customs checks.
“This change has caused a surge in formal customs clearances, which we are handling around the clock,” said the parcel delivery service.
Shipments going from business to business worth more than $800 aren’t affected by the suspension, but DHL warned they may also face delays.
Shipments under $800 to either businesses or consumers are not impacted, but one British cycle manufacturer suggested its US customers may need to split orders over $800 into “smaller shipments” to avoid the red tape.
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From May, shipments from China and Hong Kong that are worth less than $800 “will be subject to all applicable duties”, according to the White House.
“President Trump is targeting deceptive shipping practices by Chinese-based shippers, many of whom hide illicit substances, including synthetic opioids, in low-value packages,” it said in a statement.
Until now, deliveries worth less than $800 didn’t incur any duties, which allowed low-cost companies Chinese like Shein and Temu to make inroads in the US.
Both have warned their prices will now rise because of the rule changes, starting on 25 April.
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