More than 80,000 people have been evacuated from their homes by the authorities as Sichuan is hit by extreme rains, triggering floods, with nearly half a million people impacted across six cities.

On Monday, the authorities in Sichuan, China, told state-run news agency Xinhua that water levels across the province were dangerously high, prompting the evacuation of 80,794 people.

The authorities said that more than 440,000 people had been impacted by the rains , with extreme rainfall being seen across the state. The highest recorded rainfall was in Qingshen in Quxian County, where 575mm (23in) of rainfall was recorded in just two days.

Torrential rain across Scotland has closed railway lines, flooded streets and led to one car being abandoned after it was submerged in water.

A yellow weather warning for thunderstorms is in place for most of Scotland on Saturday and Sunday, with the Met Office warning it may cause flooding and power cuts.

The torrential downpours are set to continue across Scotland with a warning in place up until midnight on Sunday.

Stormy weather including heavy rainfall since the start of August has caused damaged and flooding in 4 departments of El Salvador.

Storms, strong winds and heavy rain affected El Salvador from 02 August, 2021. Four homes were damaged by floods in southern parts of the city of San Salvador and another in Chanmico canton of the municipality of San Juan Opico, La Libertad department, Civil Defence reported.

Further heavy rain from 06 August caused powerful flash floods in San Miguel city and surrounding areas in San Miguel department. Firefighters rescued people from vehicles in flood water. No injuries were reported, however. El Salvador's Ministry of the Environgment reported over 60 mm of rain fell in 24 hours to 07 August in San Miguel city.

A bridge in southern Taiwan was destroyed and washed away by raging floods on Saturday.

Large amounts of rain have also hit the east coast as typhoon Lupit turned into a tropical depression, making landfall.

Footage from Kaohsiung City captures the moment a bridge collapses, with muddy floodwater first running through and over the structure, before pulling it away.

Elsewhere in Taoyuan City, locals gathered to watch a reservoir overflow.

Lupit, the ninth typhoon of the year to affect the area, formed on 4 August.

The UK could experience a shortage of chips as the demand for potatoes grows in Europe.

After heavy flooding last month, the price of spuds has soared on the continent and buyers are targeting Britain, the Daily Star reported.

A "perfect storm" of inflation, labour shortages, environmental disaster, Brexit, rising fuel and distribution costs, has caused the problem.


But this has been added to by the continuing impact of Covid, triggering food shortages and spiralling bills, Lynx Purchasing reported.

China's monsoon season has been catastrophic so far, unprecedented heavy floods have taken a heavy toll. The southwest and central regions in the Yangtze river basin witnessed the heaviest rainfall in 1,000 years, and the water continues to pour down with no rest.

Across Henan, rains deluged 1,700 large-scale farms, killing more than a million animals, and whose many small farmers still play a major role in meat production. The floods also caused a major explosion in an aluminum alloy unit in central Henan.

At least 14 people lost their lives in Zhengzhou city when their subway train flooded. More than 500 people were trapped in the subway in one of the worst-affected areas of the city.

China's biggest river, the Yangtze, and several of its tributaries have risen to dangerous levels after days of heavy rain, forcing evacuations of thousands of people and triggering an unprecedented emergency response alert.

A very serious double earthen dam failure sent 46 million cubic meters of water to the Hulunbuir area of Inner Mongolia, causing massive flooding.

The Three Gorges Dam has successfully contained the heavy floods, sighing relief to Chinese authorities, as a collapse could have had an even more catastrophic impact on the area.

Severe flooding caused by historic rainfall wreaked havoc across western Europe taking the lives of 189 people. Tens of thousands were unable to return to their homes and were left without access to power and drinking water. Towns in river valleys and low-lying plains in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Austria were heavily damaged. Most of the affected areas had not experienced that much rainfall in 100 years.

Drought and extreme heat triggered the two largest wildfires in the Western US. The fires have burned land nearly the size of New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago combined.

The Dixie Fire in California scorched 241,000 acres has destroyed more than 60 houses. The widespread fires have forced the evacuation of more than 7,800 residents.

The Bootleg Fire is still raging in southern Oregon, burning 413,000 acres since igniting this month. The fire has torn through more than 400 houses.

Greek firefighters faced dangerous and unprecedented conditions as they battled 154 wildfires through Athens, with one of them threatening Mount Parnitha national park — one of the last remaining substantial forests near the city. Meanwhile, in Turkey, eight people died in the country's worst blaze in decades that raged through swaths of the southern coast.

Hot weather and strong winds fueled multiple wildlife fires in Akkar, Lebanon, consuming the iconic Lebanese pine forests. The flames forced thousands to evacuate.

And on the southern hemisphere, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay reported rare snowstorms and surprisingly cold temperatures this winter.

A magnitude-8.2 earthquake rattled Chignik, Alaska this month, it has been recorded as the most powerful U.S. earthquake in half a century. Several Alaskan coastal communities were evacuated following the quake, but no major damage was reported due to the remote location and depth of the epicenter.

Have you noticed that more and more people, cattle, buildings, and trees are getting struck by lightning? Things are charging up in higher layers of the atmosphere. Keep your eyes open, and prepare accordingly!

All this and more in our SOTT Earth Changes Summary for July 2021:

Vehicles were flipped on their sides and homes severely damaged as powerful flash floods surged through areas along the border between Coahuila and Durango states in Mexico.

Torrential rain struck in the city of Torreón in Coahuila State overnight 04 to 05 August 2021. Local authorities said western parts of the city saw more than 41 mm of rain in a very short period of time. A stream that passes through several parts of the city broke its banks. Authorities said the situation was worsened by the accumulation of garbage and debris in the stream, as well as illegal construction of houses near the stream.

Flood waters raced through streets, dragging vehicles and buildings. Authorities said at least 42 homes were damaged and 200 people directly affected. Emergency accommodation was made available for affected families.

The major Atlantic ocean current, to which also the Gulf stream belongs, may have been losing stability in the course of the last century. This is shown in a new study published in Nature Climate Change. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, transports warm water masses from the tropics northward at the ocean surface and cold water southward at the ocean bottom, which is most relevant for the relatively mild temperatures in Europe. Further, it influences weather systems worldwide. A potential collapse of this ocean current system could therefore have severe consequences.
"The Atlantic Meridional Overturning really is one of our planet's key circulation systems," says the author of the study, Niklas Boers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Freie Universität Berlin and Exeter University. "We already know from some computer simulations and from data from Earth's past, so-called paleoclimate proxy records, that the AMOC can exhibit - in addition to the currently attained strong mode - an alternative, substantially weaker mode of operation. This bi-stability implies that abrupt transitions between the two circulation modes are in principle possible."

Heavy rain has once again caused flooding and landslides in areas around Lake Como in northern Italy.

Streams and small rivers overflowed in Como Province, Lombardy Region. Italian Fire Service Vigili del Fuoco said they carried out 115 interventions in Appiano Gentile, Bulgarograsso and Villa Guardia for landslides, flooded underpasses and damaged homes between 04 to 05 August. Landslides in the area closed several roads.

In Lecco Province, around 120 people were evacuated from a campsite in Dervio Commune after flooding from the Varrone River. A landslide blocked a roads in Taceno Commune. Lecco Commune recorded 94.2 mm of rain on 04 August.

Fears of crop damage and impact on food supplies rise as forecaster reports more than 500mm of rain has fallen in three days

More than 1,100 homes in North Korea were damaged, thousands of people evacuated and farms and roads washed away after days of heavy rains brought flooding, state media reported.

The reports come as concern grows about damage to crops and the possible impact on food supplies in North Korea, which is cut off from most foreign imports and aid by self-imposed border restrictions aimed at preventing a coronavirus outbreak, as well as by international sanctions.

Heavy rain struck several areas on the east coast, including North and South Hamgyong provinces, state broadcaster KRT reported on Thursday.

Television footage showed homes flooded to their roofs, and bridges and dikes washed away.