Residents across New South Wales have been evacuated and rescued as heavy rain continues to batter the east coast. Above is an emergency crew member wading out to a car caught in flood waters in Newcastle
Newcastle has faced its wettest January day in more than 150 years after torrential rain batters the east coast forcing residents to abandon their homes, as flash flooding hits Sydney.
The Bureau of Meteorology said Newcastle, north of Sydney, experienced the most rainfall on a January day since records started back in 1862, also logging its wettest day since June 2007.
In the 24 hours leading up to 9am on Wednesday, Newcastle record more than 200mm of rain.
Major flood warnings have been issued across the state's east after the town of Dungog, in NSW's Hunter region, was inundated with water and locals were told to leave their homes, the ABC reported.
Look at these mystifying sun dogs surrounding the sun in Galo, Belarus.
They form like a giant eye in the sky. Eerie.
Photographer Yury Shevtsov was lucky enough to catch this eerie three suns phenomenon in the sky of his city, Galo.
On January 3, 2016, eerie sun dogs appeared around the sun.
The mysterious parhelia are linked together by a luminous ring known as a 22° halo creating a giant eye in the sky.
Sun dogs are a member of a large family of halos, created by light interacting with ice crystals in the atmosphere.
Sun dogs typically appear as two subtly colored patches of light to the left and right of the Sun, approximately 22° distant and at the same elevation above the horizon as the Sun.
They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but they are not always obvious or bright.
This video features the three suns phenomenon over Bolshereche, Russia on January 4, 2016:
Regina F. Graham Daily Mail, UK Tue, 05 Jan 2016 14:40 UTC
Griffin-Heady said that her half-brother loved her dogs. 'He laid in the bed with them, he played with them, he wanted one of their puppies,' she stated
A nine-year-old boy in northern California was mauled to death while he was home alone by his half-sister's three pit bulls.
Alexandria Griffin-Heady, 24, left her half-brother, Tyler Griffin-Huston, 9, alone inside her Yuba County trailer to go to work Sunday.
A few hours later she returned home from her security guard shift and found the boy had been viciously attacked by the dogs. She called 911 and he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The three dogs, a mother and two offspring that Griffin-Heady had raised since they were puppies, have been seized and placed in an animal shelter, the Sacramento Bee reported.
Citizens of St Petersburg in Russia woke up to an out of this world sight - three suns in the sky. People took to social media to share the unbelievable vision.
Nearly 200 homes are still without power on Christmas after a dozen utility poles fell on Coffee Road in Modesto.
National Weather Service officials say they were brought down by a microburst, not a tornado.
Coffee Road had what some are calling a catastrophe on Christmas Eve.
"Huge explosion. It sounded like a bomb went off. Everything went black immediately," Brad Layson said.
A large cypress tree fell over into the road, taking out 12 power poles with it. Families woke up to a very cold Christmas morning.
"You can't wake up in the morning and make your coffee or breakfast. Your heat. You're used to it being 75 and now it's 48 inside your house. It's pretty cold," said Joshua Schell.
Modesto Irrigation District had to replace power poles, saying 150 to 200 customers would be without power for much of Christmas.
Comment: Meteorologists are currently investigating what appeared to be straight-line wind damage in South Los Angeles yesterday, that some reported as a 'tornado'. A couple of months ago a sudden microburst caused damage near Rome, New York State.
Man confirmed dead at scene as fire crews tackle blaze after explosion at property in Rylands Drive
A man has died after reports of an explosion at a house in Wolverhampton.
Fire crews were alerted at around 3.15pm on Tuesday afternoon after an explosion was reported at the property in Rylands Drive, in the Penn area of the city.
An ambulance crew, a paramedic area support officer, a senior paramedic officer, the West Midlands CARE Team and the Hazardous Area Response Team were in attendance. The Midlands Air Ambulance from Cosford was also initially sent to the scene.
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: "Wearing personal protective clothing and using breathing apparatus, the Hazardous Area Response Team entered the building with the fire service where they found the body of a man.
A 5.1 magnitude earthquake has been recorded in North Korea, according to USGS, in the vicinity of a known nuclear site. South Korea has convened an emergency meeting over fears of a possible nuclear test.
Cambodian National Committee for Disaster Management, said 107 Cambodians, mostly rural dwellers, had been killed by lightning strikes in 2015, up 42.6 percent from the 75 deaths in 2014.
Keo Vy, Spokesman for the Management, said on Tuesday in Phnom Penh that besides the fatalities, thunderbolts had injured 77 others last year, up 35 per cent from the 57 injuries in a year earlier.
He said the casualties rose because torrential rains with thunder, lightning and strong wind had happened more often last year.
Vy said lightning strikes occur every year in Cambodia, particularly in rainy season from May through October.
He advised that to avoid the dangers from lightning strikes, people should stay in homes or shelters when there are strong rains.
One of the few remaining West Coast orcas has been found dead on Tiree in the Inner Hebrides.
The killer whale, known to researchers as Lulu, was discovered beached on the island on January 3.
Lulu was one of a pod of orcas that patrol the waters around the Hebrides and eastern Irish coast. Scientists now believe there might be just eight animals remaining in the pod, the only resident orca community in British waters.
The Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust said on Facebook: "We have some sad news to report: one of the West Coast community of killer whales known as Lulu was found dead yesterday on Tiree. Dr Andy Foote, a killer whale specialist, confirmed the photo-id match which was made using the distinctive eye and saddle patches which are unique to individuals.
Comment: Meteorologists are currently investigating what appeared to be straight-line wind damage in South Los Angeles yesterday, that some reported as a 'tornado'. A couple of months ago a sudden microburst caused damage near Rome, New York State.