Brazil was hit by devastating floods over the weekend that have so far claimed 20 lives in the resultant landslides and mudslides. There was heavy rainfall in parts of the south-east, including Rio de Janeiro, Petrópolis and the larger Espírito Santo region, with hourly rainfall totals of about 20mm recorded in places. Cumulative totals from Friday through Sunday were close to 250mm, particularly along the coast: this is far higher than the monthly average.
Landslides and mudslides occurred across the region, and a number of houses collapsed. Rescue operations are under way to look for people who may have been stranded by the floods. Although there may still be a few showers over the following days, the worst of the rain has now passed.
Over in Europe, the Iberian peninsula experienced some high temperatures over the last week, with daytime highs locally reaching in excess of 30C (86F) in southern Spain, which is about 10C greater than the seasonal average here. Night-time temperatures have also been much higher than average, particularly in the south, where these remained in the mid to high teens on Thursday and Friday night. Then on Saturday in eastern parts of Andalucía the minimum overnight temperature was 24C (75.2F), which is particularly warm for March.
However, heading into the new week, temperatures could plummet well below the seasonal norm. This is linked to a large area of low pressure developing in the north-east Atlantic, which will introduce cooler maritime air to the peninsula. The daytime temperature will widely be in the high single figures or low double digits across both Spain and Portugal, a good 15-20C lower than last week. This cooler air mass will also bring some wetter conditions, allowing for some snowfall to develop over higher parts of central Spain, as well as over the Pyrenees, where up to a metre of snow could fall by Friday.
Central states of the US are set for a very unsettled start to this week as an area of low pressure tracks north-eastwards across the nation through Monday. Parts of Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska face the most severe impacts from this storm with a blizzard warning issued due to wind gusts of more than 50mph (80km/h) and snow accumulations of about 25cm forecast. This area of low pressure will push into Canada during Tuesday, bringing further snowfall with weather warnings being issued for southern Ontario.
