Heavy snowfall and blizzards across eastern European countries this week have resulted in a number of deaths, and left thousands of towns and villages without electricity, after the first major cold snap of the season.
In Moldova, four people were reported dead over the weekend, with two bodies being recovered from cars that had been buried in snowdrifts. In Ukraine, severe snowstorms left 10 people dead across the Odesa, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Kyiv regions. Fifteen hundred towns and villages were left without power, with one snowstorm in Odesa leaving 2,500 people in need of rescue and about 850 vehicles requiring towing. Southern Ukraine was the worst affected, as cars and buses slid off frozen roads, with local authorities battling strong winds to rescue vehicles. Bulgaria was also badly affected, declaring a state of emergency as winter storms left more than 1,000 villages without electricity.
A number of maximum temperature records were broken in South Africa; the heatwave there has lasted almost two weeks. Temperatures rose above 40C in areas around the Northern Cape.
According to the South African Weather Service, a peak temperature of 46.7C was recorded in Augrabies Falls on Monday, breaking the previous November record of 46.2C. In addition to the heat, weather warnings were issued for parts of the country this week due to severe thunderstorms, which brought damaging winds, hail and intense downpours.
The hot weather will most likely continue across parts of South Africa through the rest of this week, with temperatures expected around 5-10C above the climate average. These unrelenting temperatures will also hit southern Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, and southern Mozambique, with maximum temperatures around 35C to 43C through at least the next week.
In western India, at least 24 people died and 23 were injured as a result of lightning strikes and heavy downpours during unseasonal rainfall in the state of Gujarat early this week. According to officials, at least 18 of the deaths could be attributed to lightning strikes. The state was hit by intense thunderstorms on Sunday and Monday, with some areas receiving up to 144mm (5.7in) of rain in a 24-hour period. This rainfall harmed crops, forced factories to close, and damaged about 29 houses.
