South-Eastern Europe Face Increased Flood Threat Owing to Wet Conditions
As tempests and tropical storms have churned in the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific east, the continent has faced extreme conditions of its own. An atmospheric depression that formed over the Mediterranean Sea midweek moved towards the northeast into south-eastern European countries on Thursday, bringing widespread rain showers, stormy weather and lengthy precipitation.
Persistent Precipitation and Critical Alerts
The system is expected to persist into the end of the week, with forecasting tools showing 48-hour accumulations of 80-130mm of precipitation across the majority of the Balkans. Highest-level advisories were issued for Serbia, south-west Romania, northeastern Greece, and the Dodecanese and North Aegean Islands, underscoring the risk of flooding and threat to life. Powerful gusts also forced the closure of educational institutions on Zakynthos in the Ionian sea islands.
Cold Air Contributes Severe Conditions
Cold air brought in from eastern Europe added to the severity, causing heavy snowfall across the Dinaric Alps, with some models forecasting snow levels of as much as 80 centimeters by the coming weekend.
Earlier Inundation in Spanish Regions
Just days before, eastern Spain and the Balearic archipelago endured devastating inundation as the remnants of Tropical Storm Gabrielle moved across the Iberian peninsula before coming to a halt over the Balearic waters. The city of Valencia and the island of Ibiza were hardest hit; Gandia measured over 350 millimeters in a 12-hour period – more than 10 times its typical September rainfall, while Ibiza had 10 inches in one day, its most precipitation in a day since at least 1952.
Roads, train stations, public parks, and school buildings were forced to close, while a rain gauge near the area of Aldaia recorded 57 millimeters in just 35 minutes, resulting in the La Saleta waterway to overflow. These inundations come almost a year after destructive flooding in Valencia in 2024 that caused the death of more than 230 people.
Storm Bualoi Hits Vietnam
The powerful typhoon made landfall across Vietnam's central region this recent days, bringing intense rainfall, high winds, and large swells. Over 300 millimeters of rain was measured within a 24-hour period on the start of the week, leading to flash floods and rock slides that blocked over 3,000 highways and cut off villages across the northern regions. Numerous air travel routes were halted or rescheduled, and train operations between the capital Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were halted.
Officials confirmed 36 fatalities and 147 injuries, with 21 individuals still lost. More than 210,000 houses were harmed or submerged, with more than 51,000 hectares of farmland destroyed. Vietnam’s government has estimated that the typhoon has caused in excess of £260 million in property damage this recent period.
