This week, severe weather conditions have wreaked havoc across various regions. Eastern Europe experienced heavy snowfall and blizzards, resulting in numerous fatalities and widespread power outages.
In Moldova, four deaths were reported, including two victims found in snowburied cars. Ukraine faced similar challenges, with snowstorms causing ten deaths across the Odesa, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, and Kyiv regions. These storms left 1,500 towns and villages without electricity.
Odesa alone saw 2,500 people needing rescue and around 850 vehicles stuck or abandoned. Southern Ukraine was particularly hard hit as cars and buses slid off icy roads, with local authorities struggling to rescue stranded vehicles. Bulgaria declared a state of emergency as winter storms plunged over 1,000 villages into darkness.
In contrast, South Africa has been grappling with an extreme heatwave for nearly two weeks.
Heavy snow in Eastern Europe causes fatalities and power outages across multiple regions.Temperatures soared above 40°C in the Northern Cape, with Augrabies Falls recording a peak temperature of 46.7°C, surpassing the previous November record of 46.2°C.
Severe thunderstorms with damaging winds, hail, and heavy rain have also affected parts of the country. The hot weather is expected to persist, with temperatures remaining 5-10°C above average.
This extreme heat will likely impact southern Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, and southern Mozambique, where temperatures could reach between 35°C and 43°C over the next week.
In western India, Gujarat faced unseasonal rainfall and lightning strikes, leading to at least 24 deaths and 23 injuries early this week. The intense thunderstorms brought up to 144mm of rain in 24 hours, causing significant damage to crops, forcing factory closures, and damaging around 29 houses.