Weather

The UN has warned that Africa could be facing the worst food crisis in 25 years as the continent struggles with severe drought. By Christmas up to 50 million people will need food. ITV reports: Severe weather conditions caused by the worst El Niño – a weather phenomenon that affects rainfall patterns – in 30 years are worsening and drought has ravaged crops and driven up food prices. More than 31 million need food now and 20 million more are likely to run out this year, the UN said.

The death toll from devastating landslides triggered by massive torrential rains has risen to thirty five according to Sri Lanka officials. The army have said that scores of people remained unaccounted for after mudslides hit three villages in central Kegalle district. The flooding has also forced nearly 200,000 people to abandon their homes. Press TV reports: Sri Lanka’s disaster officials said on Wednesday that 19 more bodies were found in houses buried under mudslides across the South Asian country, bringing the official death toll so far to 35 people.

More than 60 people have died after being struck by lightning in Bangladesh over the past two days, causing some panic among the local population. Most victims have been farmers working in their fields. VOA reports: After a nearly weeklong heat wave scorched Bangladesh, thunderstorms hit the country’s 14 districts Thursday. The storm produced lightning strikes that killed at least 33 people. Another series of lightning strikes Friday killed at least 23 other people. The lightning strikes also injured scores of other people in the past two days.

The Met Office issued a severe weather warning yesterday saying snow was expected in many parts of the UK on the hottest day of the year. The leading weather service for the UK and parts of the world has admitted that it made a mistake and called its forecast a “technical error.” The country basked in temperatures of 21.5C. Metro reports: As Britons sat in beer gardens enjoying 21C temperatures, the forecaster was sending out an amber snow alert for London, south-east England and south Wales. The Met Office later blamed a ‘technical error’.

A blistering heat wave has been setting temperature records through much of South Asia since early April As hundreds of people suffered severe heat strokes in Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, the death toll in India has risen to 300.