It might be termed the Winter Olympics, but until last weekend (12 to 13 February) Beijing 2022 had seen no real snow and was relying entirely on artificial snow and snow cannon. Then temperatures plummeted to -22C with heavy snow and blizzard conditions causing poor visibility. Thirty-three out of the 87 competitors in the men’s giant slalom were unable to finish and many other events were postponed.
Meanwhile, in the city of Petrópolis in the Rio de Janeiro state of Brazil, intense and torrential rainfall caused landslides and devastating flooding on Tuesday 15 February. About 25.8cm of rain fell in just three hours, the normal volume for the entire month of February. At least 100 people have died and many are still missing, with 500,000 forced to leave their homes.
