Following months without rain and a severe drought, many parts of southern and central China are now experiencing flooding due to torrential rain. The floods have killed over 50 people and forced more than 100,000 people to evacuate their homes. Flood waters inundated these areas on Monday last week, as a stationary front, across the western Pacific, brought days of heavy downpours. The county of Guizhou Wangmo, one of the worst hit areas, recorded 122.5mm of rainfall in one hour.
Across the Pacific in the US, more than 200 high temperature records were set on Tuesday last week, mainly in the midwest. Wichita surged to nearly 40C and Green Bay to over 35C, both setting new record highs. Heat moved east on Wednesday with severe storms following from the west as a cold front swept across the country, bringing a significant drop in temperature.
Northern parts of Europe have also been experiencing unseasonably high temperatures, with 30C recorded north of the Arctic Circle. This was due to a warm southerly flow ahead of the trough that has brought cool and unsettled conditions to the UK. On Thursday night, the temperature fell no lower than 21.5C at Skrova Fyr, a lighthouse on an island in Arctic north-west Norway. According to records that go back to 1875, this is the earliest date that the temperature has not fallen below 20C in Norway. This phenomena is locally known as a "tropenatt".
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2011/jun/14/weatherwatch-china-flood-drought-heatwave
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