Torrential rain and thunderstorms lashed the Canadian province of Nova Scotia last week in what was deemed its worst rainfall event in 50 years. Flash-flooding resulted, leading Novia Scotia to declare a two-week state of emergency last Saturday. At least three people died in the floods, up to 600 had to evacuate their homes, and power cuts affected a further 80,000.
Storms began on the Friday (21 July) and continued into Sunday, with some areas seeing three months’ worth of rain – about 250 mm – in the space of 24 hours. It had already been a particularly wet summer for Nova Scotia. The provincial capital, Halifax, had its third wettest June on record, receiving more than double the amount of rain that had fallen in the three months prior.
Last week’s storm caused damage to buildings and infrastructure, with several roads washed away and at least seven bridges believed to need major repair or replacement.
The northern Philippines and Taiwan have also received heavy rainfall. Typhoon Doksuri threaded between the two nations as it tracked north-eastwards into the South China Sea, achieving a peak category 4 status in the Philippine Sea on Tuesday, with winds of up to 150mph, before weakening to category 3 as it skirted the northern Philippines on Wednesday. It brought widespread damage and significant flooding to the northern island of Luzon, and almost 400mm of rainfall was recorded in some areas.
Doksuri further weakened to category 2 as it passed to the south-west of Taiwan on Thursday but heavy rainfall continued, with up to 700mm recorded in places. The typhoon is on track to make landfall in the Chinese province of Fujian on Friday, potentially restrengthening before it does so because of the warm sea temperatures in the South China Sea.
Meanwhile, a heatwave has continued to plague large areas of Europe and parts of northern Africa. Though temperatures reached the mid- to high 40s Celsius in places, the all-time European record of 48.8C so far looks to have remained unbroken. The long-term hot and dry weather triggered wildfires in Greece, southern Italy and northern parts of Algeria and Tunisia. Temperatures look likely to ease a little in the coming days, though there could be a return to highs above 40C in Spain next week.
