China Floods Kill 12, India Swelters Under Extreme Heat

Heavy, prolonged rainfall in southern and central China has resulted in weather warnings for flash flooding, landslides and waterlogging. The slow-moving band of rainfall spanned 620 miles (1,000km) and travelled eastwards across the regions on Tuesday.

It was formed from the convergence of multiple bands of rain originating from the Bay of Bengal, South China Sea and Pacific Ocean.

Given the accompanying low wind speeds, high daily and hourly rainfall totals have been recorded, with as much as 75mm locally in Hunan, 85mm in Anhui in a 24-hour period, and 95mm on the island of Hainan.

Twelve people have died because of the flooding and hundreds of residents have been evacuated by emergency services. There were major travel disruptions, electricity outages, as well as school and business closures. Social media posts showed submerged cars and people fishing along flooded streets.

Heat warnings have been issued for Delhi and the surrounding areas of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and other regions in the north of India. Temperatures above 40C (104F) have been recorded widely across northern and central India this week. And parts of northern India are experiencing temperatures more than 5C above the seasonal daytime average during the night.

A maximum temperature of 48.2C was recorded in Banda on Wednesday, and 47.6C on Thursday at the same site. Temperatures in Delhi were 44.4C on Wednesday, and 45.3C on Thursday.

In rural areas, farmers are working during the night to avoid the daytime heat. People have been advised to stay hydrated and keep out of the sun during the day. Such temperatures can be linked to a lower amount of rainfall through this season. These severe heatwave conditions, with maximum temperatures above 45C, will continue into next week and are expected to last until Wednesday when conditions will become more unsettled as thunderstorms develop across the north.