Earth Changes
Bad travel conditions expected as storms and heavy showers move east over weekend
Unseasonal weather, possibly driven by climate change, has caused widespread disruption and prompted the Met Office to issue yellow weather warnings across much of the UK.
Festivals have been cancelled and floods are expected as the extreme weather is forecast to continue over the weekend.
"There is some fairly heavy rain and thunderstorms from Bristol, up through Wales and into Northern Ireland," a spokesman for the Met Office said. "That will transfer eastwards over the next few hours, causing poor driving conditions in places."
Organisers cancelled the annual Race Across Torbay on Sunday as weather warnings for Devon and Cornwall were issued. The Houghton music festival in Norfolk and Boardmasters in Newquay were also cancelled this week.
Warnings are expected on Saturday for all of Wales and most of England and thunderstorms predicted across Scotland and Northern Ireland, where torrential showers could cause flooding and road closures.
The meteorologist Bonnie Diamond said: "We will certainly see an impact in terms of localised flooding, difficult driving conditions and transport delays."
A rare tornado ripped through southwest Luxembourg on Friday, injuring 14 people.
Officials said around 160 buildings were damaged by the twister that struck the towns of Petange and Kaerjeng near the French and Belgium border.
Images and videos on social media showed the tornado with winds packing 128 kilometers per hour (80 miles per hour) throwing debris, roofs and tree branches into the air.
A Nashville man was standing in knee-deep water when a shark bit his right foot. He was treated for minor lacerations.
On Saturday, two surfers were bitten within minutes of one another at the same beach. Authorities say a 23-year-old woman was bitten on the left hand and wrist, which required her to receive stitches. A short time later, a 21-year-old man was bitten on his right foot and was treated at the scene. Neither bite was life-threatening.
Sources
Heavy rains have been battering the coastal state since August 7 and have thrown normal life out of gear. This is after the 2018 floods — the worst in the state's history — that killed nearly 500 people and incurred a loss of Rs 31,000 crore worth damages.
Of the 14 districts in Kerala, nine in the north have been put on red alert; three in central on orange alert, while two in south on yellow alert.
Across the state, 315 flood relief camps have been opened, according to an update from Kerala chief minister's office.

Katrin Kimming filmed the phenomenon from her home in Grå Läge north of Helsingborg.
Danish media said that waterspouts are common late-summer phenomena and that they have caused damage historically.
This footage was taken by Kenneth Schou Svendsen at Dronningmølle beach near Gilleleje, Denmark.
Credit: Kenneth Schou Svendsen via Storyful

Gerry Larkin discovered eight out of 10 cattle dead after being struck by lightning in Ballintemple, Moneygall.
The cattle, eight in-calf heifers, owned by local farmer Gerry Larkin were sheltering under a bush when the lethal bolt of lightning hit at around 6.30pm.
Mr Larkin discovered the calamity the following day when he went to see his stock at a farm he holds on a long-term lease at Ballintemple, Moneygall.
A strange sight was recently observed near Hongze Lake in China when a whole row of buildings was seen seemingly hovering over the water's surface on the horizon. The sighting was captured on camera by onlookers.
A video subsequently uploaded on YouTube by the People's Daily channel shows what appears to be "a mirage of traditional Chinese buildings," according to the description, along with a working wind turbine.
Comment: This isn't the first suspected instance of Fata Morgana in China:
- Mysterious glimpse of the "Kingdom of Heaven" appears China sky (2018)
- Mirage in China: 'Buildings' emerge above sea (2016)
- Fata Morgana? Mysterious mirage city appears in clouds over Foshan, China (2015)
Several victims died after flash flooding and a mudslide caused buildings to collapse in a mountainous area of Milhan district.
Torrential rains and flash floods have affected several other provinces over the last few days. On 31 July flash floods and landslides displaced around 120 families in Ibb governorate. There were no reports of casualties.
#اليمن | السيول الناتجة عن الأمطار الغزيرة جرفت منزل أحد السكان في #المحويت... الأهالي وجدوا ثلاث جثث على بعد ثلاثة كيلومترات من موقع المنزل"، ولا يزال البحث جارياً عن بقية أفراد العائلة
— سُمية #اليمن (@Sumaihsamir) 8 de agosto de 2019
الله يرحمهم.. انا لله وانا إليه راجعون
pic.twitter.com/uUSqra0AD3
On the night of August 5 the air temperature in the metropolitan area decreased in some places to record values. In Cherusti, in the east of Moscow region, the minimum air temperature was +1.9°C, and in the herbage was -2°C.
Cold record shattered
Thus, for this area a new minimum temperature record was set. Prior to that, it belonged to the years 2001 and 2002 and was +4.9°C.













Comment: Yeah, tornadoes never happened in Europe until very recently, when they suddenly started happening all the time!