Europe
(March 28) A lack of rain combined with tinder box conditions throughout Britain have bred the ”perfect recipe” for wildfires, authorities say after several areas were hit by raging blazes. The fires erupted as many parts of Britain sweltered in temperatures closing in on 73.4 (23C). Early summer sunshine will also mean more hosepipe bans later in the year, the Environment Agency has warned, with parts of Yorkshire declared officially in drought. (Source)
(March 19) Five people have died after being caught in a major avalanche in northern Norway, a sixth man was pulled out and taken to hospital with “moderate injuries”. (Source)
(March 14) The worst drought in at least 40 years in the Balkans has left countries that rely on hydro power struggling to maintain a steady electricity supply. The drought that began in August has shrunk output of electricity from the dams to just a quarter of that amount. (Source)
(March 13) Thousands of hectares of forest in northeastern Spain have been destroyed due to out of season forest fire due to a very mild and dry winter. (Source)
(March 12) Water companies across southern and eastern England are introducing water restrictions as a result of two unusually dry winters which have left reservoirs, aquifers and rivers well below normal levels. (Source)
(March 7) An unprecedented one hour of severe hail storm completely wiped out fruit crops in Sicily, Italy. (Source)
(March 1) The driest winter in the last 40 years has raised red flags in Spain, where farmers face the threat of drought. The droughts that Spain experiences year on year are one of the main concerns of agricultural workers who use up to 80% of a reservoir’s water for their crops. (Source)
Africa
(March 18) Hundreds of acreages of indigenous and bamboo forest and moorland in Mt Kenya National Park have been destroyed by raging fire for the ninth consecutive day. (Source)
(March 9) At least 111 people are dead and 332,204 people homeless after Tropical Storm Irina struck Madagascar, most of them residents in the southeast of the Indian Ocean island of the south African nation. (Source)
(March 8) Violent storm destroyed homes and uprooted trees in the Onayena Constituency in Namibia. (Source)
(March 5) Mozambican emergency officials say heavy rains and high winds killed eight people in the southern African nation over the weekend. (Source)
(March 1) Ten students were swept away by raging flood waters while attempting to cross Losukutane River in Tanzania. The river had suddenly swollen following torrential rains that fell in many parts of the country. (Source)
(March 1) A combination of melting snow, overflowing rivers, and heavy rains flooded parts of northwestern Tunisia in late February 2012. Flood waters reached rooftops in some areas. As of February 23, at least two people were confirmed dead, and one person had been reported missing. (Source)
The Middle East
(March 19) Severe sandstorms and below-zero temperatures in the northern and eastern regions and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. (Source)
(March 18) Some 277 individuals on the Failaka Island in Kuwait were evacuated due to the sandstorm and bad weather conditions. Visibility dropped below 300 meters in most of the country’s areas. (Source)
(March 10) At least 145 people are missing and “presumed dead” after an avalanche hit a remote village in Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan province last week, the United Nations said Saturday. Afghanistan’s harshest winter in 15 years has claimed scores of lives, with the avalanches taking the toll to more than 90 in the mountainous province of Badakhshan alone, according to officials. (Source) (March 7) At least 37 people died and hundreds were still trapped in northern Afghanistan when a snow avalanche covered an entire village near the northern border with Tajikistan. (Source)
(March 2) Heavy snow fell in the Jerusalem area on Friday, and for the first time in four years, parts of Israel were white with snow. (Source)
(March 1) Jordan’s capital, Amman, experiences heavy snow as rare weather conditions hit the gulf region. (Source)
No comments:
Post a Comment