Extremely hot and mostly sunny conditions have been experienced across southern Europe this week. Parts of Spain have had record-breaking temperatures for the month of May, with the southern city of Jaén in Andalucia recording 40.3C (104.5F) on Friday 20 May, according to the Spanish weather agency Aemet. Meanwhile, in the nearby town of Andújar, temperatures exceeded 42C two days in a row.
Intense heat also affected northern Africa, with Sidi Slimane city in Morocco recording its hottest day in recorded history, reaching a scorching 45.7C. Although one particular weather event cannot be directly attributed to the climate crisis, scientists believe the severity and duration of heatwaves are expected to increase in the future in response to a warmer global climate.
Elsewhere in Europe, strong storms swept across the north-west last Friday, generating powerful winds, torrential rain, hail, and even a couple of tornadoes. One tornado swept through the city of Paderborn in western Germany, where 43 people were injured as a result of flying debris, with roofs blown away and trees downed. Localised heavy rain caused flash flooding and one fatality, a 38-year-old man who suffered an electric shock when his basement flooded in the town of Wittgert, western Germany.
With the summer solstice only a month away, parts of Colorado in the US experienced a late May snow event on the 21st, 24 hours after experiencing temperatures of more than 30C. A powerful cold front brought temperatures down by more than 30 degrees in less than 36 hours, leading to snowfall across many areas. Parts of Denver had about 2-3in (5-8cm), while the higher ground south-west of Cripple Creek and around Palmer Lake recorded about 20in.
In the far south-east US and into Mexico, the first large plume of Saharan dust arrived in Florida after crossing more than 4,000 miles across the Atlantic, turning skies grey and reducing air quality. Storms developing over northern Africa eject dust particles higher into the atmosphere and this plume often travels westwards by the equatorial trade winds that blow from an easterly direction. Millions of tonnes of dust particles cross the Atlantic each year, acting as a fertiliser for the Amazon rainforest.
• This article was amended on 27 May 2022 to clarify that equatorial trade winds blow westwards, not eastwards.
