Displaying items by tag: extreme weather

All week Europe has been battling wildfires fuelled by soaring temperatures in Portugal, France, Turkey and Spain. Pray for 3,500 Portuguese firefighters battling dozens of blazes in record-breaking temperatures. Pray for the 600 people in Leiria who were forced out of their homes, and over 3,000 who were evacuated in Turkey. Pray for devastated people like 77-year-old Adelino, a Portuguese farmer who said, ‘Everything burned. It looked like the end of the world.’ Pray for Spanish farmers who have lost over 70,300 hectares. Pray for 1,000 French firefighters trying to control two major wildfires. 4,000 hectares have already burned in southwest France.

On 4 June an explosion and deadly fire rocked the Bangladeshi port city of Chittagong, with fifty official casualties, but five days later hundreds were still missing. Firefighters responded to the blaze but used water on incorrectly labelled hydrogen peroxide, causing further explosions that killed some firefighters and people in the streets. Debris from the explosion landed a third of a mile away, and the impact shattered windows 1.5 miles away. See In early June Northern Bangladesh saw the worst flooding in two decades, and it is not yet the monsoon season. Millions have been stranded after villages and cities were inundated. Millions more remain without electricity or clean water. The situation might worsen if water-borne illness begins spreading. The deluge has forced 90,000 people into shelters. 270 camps have been set up until the water subsides, but it is still difficult to get to these camps. Four hundred miles of strategic highways are under water, preventing first responders from reaching people.

Brutal heatwaves are causing millions of people to struggle. Temperatures hit a record 49.2C (120.5F) in Delhi in its fifth heatwave since March. Officials in many parts of India are asking people to take precautions, as temperatures are set to remain high and could cause health concerns for the elderly, infants and people with chronic diseases. Pray for farmers whose wheat harvests have been affected. Pray for the poor who have fewer ways of keeping cool and fewer options to stay inside, away from the heat. They have to work outside during the hottest hours. Pray for the children in rural areas where schools are in sheds with tin roofs - unbearable in the heat. There are places in India where the temperature itself may not be that high, but when combined with high humidity, life is very difficult. These record heatwaves are a dramatic example of climate change: see

Recently the east coast experienced the worst flooding on record; now extraordinary rain has caused thousands of residents to evacuate their homes again. Pray for NSW residents inundated by a month's worth of rain in six hours across already saturated landscapes. Pray for the half a million who have been told to evacuate, or be ready to, as torrents lash Sydney. Pray for those whose homes and businesses have been destroyed. In Lismore water breached the levee for the second time in a month. Flood defences were criticised when there was no official warning of the breach after sirens malfunctioned. The levee system was built to protect the area from extreme flooding, but it reduced flood risk by only 10%. Professor Pittock said the repeated flood risk to towns like Lismore highlights the grave risks of rebuilding in harm's way, ‘No amount of house raising or flood resilient materials will adequately reduce flood risks in some parts.’

A storm battering Australia, described as a rain bomb, began flooding the Brisbane area on 27 February and damaged 15,000 properties before moving south. New South Wales river towns were under water the next day, with Wilsons River rising 14.46 metres. A flotilla of private boats rescued residents trapped in flooded homes. Authorities were overwhelmed by the scale of the rescue operation. On 1 March military helicopters airlifted stranded people from rooftops of flooded neighbourhoods in eastern Australia and then the wild weather slowly moved south. By 3 March half a million people across NSW were under evacuation orders. Warragamba Dam west of Sydney was spilling 225 gigalitres a day, which meant that thousands of households and businesses could avoid damaging flooding from the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers north-west of Sydney. Pray for threatened communities to be safe as river levels continue rising. Pray for the 11,747 families who have requested help from military and other rescue services since the crisis began.

The forecast for northern England and Scotland on 7 and 8 January is for thundersnow with freezing rain, followed by snow and lightning, disrupting travel and causing power cuts. On 9 or 10 January, wintry showers will likely be just over the higher tops and fells. Forecasters said thundersnow is driven by the same conditions which cause thunder in the summer - the difference in temperature between the ground and the air surrounding it. Pray for those whose balance could be impaired when walking on icy ground. Pray for drivers to be careful when rain is followed by frost and black ice appears. Pray for any power cuts to be shortlived, and for the vulnerable to keep warm in unnaturally freezing conditions. Also, strong winds will bring the risk of drifting and blizzards. Pray especially for the farmers with livestock out on the hills.

Swathes of Britain are set to be battered by gales as Storm Arwen brings winds of up to 75mph. The Met Office has issued weather warnings covering most of the UK for 27 November, with coastal areas hit hardest. Forecasters say high winds may cause some travel disruption and damage in the worst-affected areas. An amber alert issued for northeast Scotland and northeast England says ‘flying debris is likely and could lead to injuries or danger to life’. Longer journey times in those areas are likely, with rail, air and ferry services potentially disrupted. Parts of the UK are also set for a sprinkling of snow this weekend as an Arctic blast bites, sending temperatures tumbling towards freezing. The wintry mix of gales, rain and snow is predicted anywhere except the far south.

An official In Catania, Sicily, called the situation ‘very critical’. Streets are completely flooded, and a red alert - the highest level warning - has been issued for flooding in northeast Sicily and the southwest region of Calabria. A depression on the Mediterranean is causing disturbed weather conditions in southern Italy. Over two feet of rain fell in half a day - never seen before. While storms continue, a Medicane (rare Mediterranean hurricane producing 5 metre waves) meanders south, with 150mm of rain predicted for Friday with localized areas receiving higher amounts. Schools and businesses are closed, and people are advised to stay indoors and banned from areas prone to landslides. Fire and rescue have had hundreds of callouts in one day. See alsowww.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-59048809

Ida, the strongest hurricane ever to make landfall in Louisiana, hit as Category 4 while the region's hospitals were under siege from rising Covid cases. Debbie and her family cowered on a stairway landing while four feet of muddy water rushed into her home. She and her son had earlier safely rescued her elderly parents from their home, but now they prayed the roof would not collapse on them all. ‘God blessed us that we all survived,’ she said after they were rescued. Her experience is just one of the tens of thousands rescued by crews in high-water trucks, helicopters and swamp boats desperately searching for survivors. Pray for Louisiana communities beginning the huge task of clearing debris and repairing damage. They are facing the depressing prospect of weeks without electricity in the stifling, late-summer heat because the region's power grid is down. On 2 September, New York City declared a state of emergency after flash flooding: see

The Dixie Fire is the largest of nearly 100 major wildfires burning across a dozen western US states, including Alaska. Two mountain communities were incinerated, and a utility company blacked out 51,000 customers to prevent new blazes. Two weeks after the fire destroyed Greenville, the Caldor Fire a few miles southeast exploded and ravaged Grizzly Flats, a forest community of around 1,200 people, destroying more than 50 homes. Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency in El Dorado County. Both fires grew by tens of thousands of acres in two days. Numerous resources were put into the Susanville area, with 18,000 people. Residents were warned to be ready to evacuate. By 19 August over 2.4 million acres were burned in 104 large fires and complexes in twelve states, involving over 25,000 wildland firefighters and support personnel.