South-Eastern European Nations Confront Increased Flooding Threat Owing to Rainy Weather
Although cyclones and hurricanes have raged in the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific east, Europe has experienced extreme weather of its own. An atmospheric depression that developed over the Mediterranean Sea in the middle of the week traveled northeast into south-eastern European countries on Thursday morning, causing widespread downpours, electrical storms and prolonged rainfall.
Ongoing Rainfall and Critical Alerts
The system is forecast to continue into Friday, with models showing 48-hour amounts of three to five inches of rain across the majority of the Balkan Peninsula. Highest-level advisories were issued for Serbia, south-west Romania, north-east Greece, and the Greek isles, emphasizing the threat of flooding and risk to human safety. High winds also shut down schools on the island of Zakynthos in the Ionian sea islands.
Cold Air Adds Harshness
Chilly air masses pulled in from eastern Europe increased the severity, generating deep snow across the Dinaric Alps, with several predictions estimating accumulations of as much as 80 centimeters by the coming weekend.
Earlier Inundation in Spanish Regions
Earlier in the week, Spain's eastern coast and the Balearics endured devastating floods as the leftovers of Hurricane Gabrielle passed over the Spanish peninsula before stalling over the Balearic Sea. Valencia and the island of Ibiza were hardest hit; The town of Gandia measured 356.8mm in a 12-hour period – over tenfold its average for the month, while the island had 254mm in 24 hours, its rainiest day since at least 1952.
Roads, railway stations, green spaces, and schools were forced to close, while a rain gauge near Aldaia recorded 57 millimeters in just half an hour, leading to the La Saleta ravine to flood. These inundations come almost a year after destructive floods in the region in 2024 that caused the death of hundreds of residents.
Typhoon Bualoi Impacts Vietnam
The powerful typhoon struck the coast across central Vietnam this recent days, delivering intense rainfall, high winds, and huge sea swells. More than 300mm of precipitation was observed within a 24-hour period on Monday, triggering rapid flooding and mudslides that obstructed more than 3,000 roads and cut off local populations across northern provinces. Dozens of flights were cancelled or delayed, and train operations between the capital Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were stopped.
Officials confirmed 36 fatalities and 147 casualties, with 21 persons still missing. Hundreds of thousands of residences were harmed or submerged, with more than 51,000 hectares of farmland destroyed. National officials has calculated that Bualoi has led to more than $350m in damage to property this week.
