Latest news with #floods
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Met Office maps show where thunderstorms will hit UK this weekend after heatwave
The Met Office has issued a thunderstorm warning for parts of the UK this weekend amid searing heat. It comes after a number of areas are expected to have passed the heatwave criteria on Friday - meaning an area has reached a certain high temperature for three consecutive days. Thresholds vary from 25C to 28C in different parts of the country. And while temperatures are expected to peak on Saturday, with highs of 34C possible in eastern areas, the Met Office has also warned thunderstorms are likely across parts of northern England and Wales on Sunday from 3pm until 4am, issuing a yellow warning. The weather agency has warned spray and sudden flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures, with a "slight chance" of power cuts and a "small chance" of properties being flooded quickly. Public transport could also be delayed where lightning strikes occur. The Met Office provides the following tips for staying safe in a thunderstorm: Flood preparation if your property is at risk: checking flood advice in your area, keeping phones charged, preparing a flood kit, turning off gas, water and electricity supplies Driving precautions: driving slower, using main roads, using dipped headlights, giving yourself more time to react on slippery surfaces, keeping a bigger gap between vehicles Powercut preparation: having battery candles, torches and batteries and a mobile phone power pack ready Protecting your property from damage and other people from injury: staying indoors as much as possible, and securing loose items such as bins, plant pots, garden furniture and trampolines ⚠️ Yellow weather warning issued ⚠️Thunderstorms across parts of northern England and WalesSaturday 1500 – Sunday 0400Latest info 👉 #WeatherAware⚠️ — Met Office (@metoffice) June 20, 2025 Read more: How the infamous heatwave of 1976 compares to temperatures these days (Yahoo News UK) Here, Yahoo News UK also breaks down, using Met Office forecasts, what the weather will be like for each region of the UK over the coming days. Saturday Cloud building from the west, with a few isolated showers possible later, but most parts staying dry. Hot again, especially in any sunny spells. Perhaps the odd thunderstorm overnight. Maximum temperature 33C. Sunday to Tuesday Any showers clearing to sunny spells Sunday. Feeling fresher, but still rather warm. Changeable Monday and Tuesday, with sunny spells, but also occasional showers or rain, and temperatures nearer normal. Saturday Very warm and humid with hazy sunshine at times. Showers are possible, locally thundery, but many places not seeing much rain. Coastal mist and low cloud in some western areas. Maximum temperature 28C. Sunday to Tuesday A fresher and breezier spell of weather from Sunday and into next week. Whilst showers are possible at times, prolonged dry periods are likely with warm sunny spells at times. Saturday East Midlands: Cloud building from the west, with a chance of showers, and perhaps heavy thunderstorms developing, most likely across northern parts during the afternoon. Hot again, especially in any sunny spells. Maximum temperature 33C. West Midlands: Very warm and humid with hazy sunny spells during the morning. Scattered thundery showers breaking out, with localised torrential downpours and large hail later, mainly in the north. Becoming hot. Maximum temperature 32C. Sunday to Tuesday East Midlands: Any showers clearing to sunny spells Sunday. Feeling fresher, but still rather warm. Changeable Monday and Tuesday, with sunny spells, but also occasional showers or rain, and temperatures nearer normal. West Midlands: A fresher and breezier spell of weather from Sunday and into next week. Whilst showers are possible at times, prolonged dry periods are likely with warm sunny spells at times. Saturday Cloud building from the west, with a chance of showers or thunderstorms developing, perhaps severe, and most likely through the afternoon. Very warm, or hot again, especially in sunny spells. Maximum temperature 30C. Sunday to Tuesday Turning fresher and breezier Sunday, with sunny spells and occasional showers. Staying changeable Monday and Tuesday, with some sunny spells, further showers or spells of rain, and temperatures nearer normal. Saturday Very warm and humid with hazy sunny spells during the morning. Scattered showers, some thundery, breaking out, with localised torrential downpours and large hail later. Becoming very muggy. Light winds. Maximum temperature 29C. Sunday to Tuesday A fresher and breezier spell of weather from Sunday and into next week. Whilst showers are possible at times, prolonged dry periods are likely with warm sunny spells at times. Saturday Becoming very warm or hot again with some sunny spells. A few sharp showers showers may develop through the day, these possibly heavy and thundery. Maximum temperature 28C. Sunday to Tuesday Sunny spells and a few outbreaks of showery rain on Sunday. Fresher on Monday with scattered showers. Rather cloudy on Tuesday with rain spreading in later. Saturday Feeling fresher than Friday but still rather warm. Cloud will tend to bubble up through the day and bring the risk of a few thunderstorms later. Maximum temperature 23C. Sunday to Tuesday Outbreaks of rain on Sunday, clearing to the east later. Rather cloudy and breezy on Monday with scattered showers. Cloudy with patchy rain and drizzle on Tuesday. Saturday Very warm and humid with bright or sunny spells. Scattered showers breaking out, with thunderstorms possible. Localised torrential downpours and large hail in north Wales later. Many places staying dry. Maximum temperature 26C. Sunday to Tuesday A fresher and breezier spell of weather from Sunday and into next week. Whilst showers are possible at times, prolonged dry periods are likely with warm sunny spells at times.
ABC News
3 hours ago
- Climate
- ABC News
Cundle Flat residents still isolated by flood damage.
A Mid North Coast community spent one month relying on chopper drops in the wake of May's devastating floods. Supplied: Pip Hamersley-Everett
CBC
13 hours ago
- Climate
- CBC
'There was nothing we could do,' says South African woman who watched floodwaters engulf her home
One moment, Zukiswa Mbuku and her husband were eating breakfast and having an ordinary Tuesday. The next, they were fleeing with nothing but the clothes on their backs as raging floodwaters swallowed their home. The elderly couple live near a river in Mthatha, a South African town in the coastal province of Eastern Cape, which is currently under a state of national disaster as people try to recover from last week's deadly floods. Mbuku says she and her husband had just finished eating when a neighbour ran in and warned them to run because the water from the river was rapidly approaching the houses. From the back window, they could already see their garden flooding. "Then we went out through the front door. When we looked down the road, the water was coming," Mbuku told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal. The river water almost seemed to gallop towards them, she said, but soundlessly, like a silent, yet terrifying, horse. Within minutes, it had surrounded their house up to the windows. "We had to rush out without taking anything because everything happened so fast," she said. "There was nothing we could do." 'Unprecedented, catastrophic and unimaginable' An extreme weather front brought heavy rain, strong winds and snow to one of South Africa's poorest provinces last week, causing flooding that left 92 people dead and roads, houses, schools and other infrastructure damaged. Mthatha was the hardest hit. At least two school children who were washed away in a bus are among the unverified number of missing persons according to local media reports, while thousands have since been displaced. Authorities have appealed for residents to report missing people so rescuers could better understand how many people they were still looking for. "Since June 9, this province has been hit hard by unprecedented, catastrophic and unimaginable disasters," Zolile Williams, a member of the provincial legislature's executive council, said on Thursday during a memorial service in Mthatha for the victims. "Since that day, the Eastern Cape has not been the same." Struggle to rebuild what's been lost Life has certainly not been the same for Mbuku. She and her husband have since found refuge in a local bed and breakfast, she says, just five homes away from their flooded house. "We are at the curve of the river. So all the houses that are at the curve before the river straightens, they were affected," she said. "The other houses are on the upper side. The water never reached them." When the floodwaters receded, the couple went back to their house to assess the damage. "When my husband opened the front door, the water rushed like anything. It was forceful," she said. "The fridge was floating, chairs were floating, couches were floating." Some of her furniture, she said, had been broken apart and flung about the house. While the house is still standing, it's still too damp and water damaged to move back in, especially with Mbuku's asthma. "We are 70-something years old. It's quite traumatic," she said. "How do you gather and restore what you collected all these years? What do you do?" Community pulls together Declaring a national disaster allows the government to release funding for relief and rehabilitation. But Mbuku says she hasn't received much in the way of help from any government officials. A local councillor phoned them, she says, and "promised that they would do something because of our age." "We thought they would provide us with accommodation, but they didn't," she said. Instead, she says, it was her family who helped find them a place to stay. But she says her community — relatives, neighbours, and members of her church — have stepped up to offer what support they can. "We are assisting one another," she said.
News24
18 hours ago
- Climate
- News24
11 hours in a tree: Woman's harrowing survival story as Mthatha floods claim family members
Devastating floods ravaged the Eastern Cape's Mthatha region, killing at least 92 people and leaving multiple families grieving for lost loved ones, with several victims still missing. Infrastructure damage is estimated at R4 billion, including 4 229 destroyed households, 413 damaged schools affecting over 48 341 pupils. Survivors like Talita Qhinga, Asongezwa Ntlabathi and Phumeza Papana have shared heartbreaking stories of watching family members swept away by sudden floodwaters. The Eastern Cape's day of mourning for the deadly Mthatha floods offered a step toward closure for some grieving families, while others remained uncertain as their loved ones are still missing and presumed dead. The provincial government held a solemn day of mourning for victims of the devastating floods that ravaged the Mthatha region, with at least 92 people dead. One of the survivors is a young woman, Talita Qhinga, 22, from Slovo Park near Mthatha. Speaking to News24, Qhinga broke down several times while trying to narrate a story of how she tried in vain to save her family members, four of whom were swept away by a raging current. The current swept Qhinga all the way from Slovo Park to near Highbury Primary School, about 4km from her homestead. She was stranded in a tree in the Mthatha River for close to 11 hours, hungry and cold. The bodies of her mother Nomthandazo, 50, her cousin Nonkoliseko, 40, and niece Esethu, 14, were recovered. Her nephew Lukhanyo, 7, is still missing. 'I was helpless when the incident happened and could not save them. That's the most painful thing for me. The incident happened around 05:00 last Tuesday. It was still dark as it is winter. I took out my phone and switched on its light. The water was raging. Suddenly our bed was floating in water. My niece went to the bedroom of her parents to wake them up,' Qhinga said. In just a few moments, they were overwhelmed by the water. 'I went to save our mother who was struggling. It was in that process that the water swept us away. They all drowned and disappeared in front of me. I stayed on top of the tree, in the cold and in fear, until I was rescued by divers around 16:00 (about 11 hours from the time of the incident),' Qhinga said. She was eventually saved by police divers and taken to hospital for medical observation. Qhinga said Esethu had dreams of going to medical school after high school. 'This is very sad for me. The only closure for me would be the discovery of my nephew (Lukhanyo).' Asongezwa Ntlabathi, 25, from hard-hit Decoligny village, lost five family members – her mother, grandmother and two nephews aged 6 and 8. Her 11-year-old nephew is still missing. Ntlabathi said: We really don't know how we are going to bury them yet, there is one still missing. I don't know how many times I have been in the state mortuary to look for my nephew. In the morning, I am in the morgue and in the afternoon, still the same thing, on a daily basis. Phumeza Papana, from Slovo Park, lost her last-born daughter Neliswa aged 23. 'I was part of the search that discovered her body. I screamed when her lifeless body was later discovered. What was so painful for me is the fact that my daughter died crying for help to be saved.' Finance MEC Mlungisi Mvoko, who was the acting premier as Oscar Mabuyane did not attend the mourning service, said the deadly deluge affected thousands of people, mostly in Mthatha. 'The number of destroyed households is 4 229 with 1 963 households with partial roof damage. The number of schools damaged is 413, with 1 471 classrooms damaged. The number of affected learners in those schools totals 48 341. We have not listed damaged roads, bridges, hospitals and water infrastructure but for now we estimate the damage at R4 billion,' said Mvoko. He said land would be made available for communities whose houses were built close to river banks but who now wanted to be moved.
Arab News
a day ago
- Climate
- Arab News
South Africa declares national disaster as flooding death toll rises to 92
JOHANNESBURG: South Africa was under a declared state of national disaster on Thursday as the death toll from floods caused by severe rains in the Eastern Cape region rose to 92. The Eastern Cape government honored the victims of last week's floods with a provincial Day of Mourning and a memorial service at King Sabatha Dalindyebo Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) College in Mthatha, one of the few schools whose infrastructure remained intact. Speaking at the public memorial service, Zolile Williams, a member of the executive council, said the people of the coastal province have not been the same since the disaster hit, and many are now faced with the challenging task of rebuilding. 'Since June 9, this province has been hit hard by unprecedented, catastrophic and unimaginable disasters, where in the whole of the province, about 92 people have perished,' said Williams. 'Since that day, the Eastern Cape has not been the same. It is the first time we have experienced so many dead bodies, some of whom have not yet been found.' An extreme weather front brought heavy rain, strong winds and snow to parts of the province caused flooding in one of South Africa's poorest provinces last week, leaving dozens dead and roads, houses, schools and other infrastructure damaged. At least two school children who were washed away in a bus are among the unverified number of missing persons according to local media reports, while thousands have since been displaced. Authorities have appealed for residents to report missing people so rescuers could better understand how many people they were still looking for. Religious leaders from different Christian religions were among the hundreds of mourners who attended the memorial ceremony, lighting candles as a symbolic expression of remembering the 92 people who died in the floods. In a government notice on Wednesday, Elias Sithole, director of the National Disaster Management Center, said severe weather had caused property damage. and the disruption of vital services in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, the Western Cape, and the Free State, which prompted South Africa to declare a national state of disaster. The declaration allows the government to release funding for relief and rehabilitation and will remain in place until it lapses or until the conditions can no longer be categorized as such and is revoked by the head of the center. President Cyril Ramaphosa recently visited the town of Mthatha, in Eastern Cape province, where the floods hit hardest. Many of the Eastern Cape flood victims lived on floodplains close to rivers. Government officials said poor neighborhoods with informal dwellings were most severely impacted. Authorities have been criticized for the rescue response but also for the state of the infrastructure in the area.
