Panama Canal authorities warn they may impose additional reductions to daily ship transits due to severe drought conditions caused by the strengthening El Niño weather pattern. The potential cuts represent a worst-case scenario based on 1997, the canal's driest year on record.
The wreck of a steam tugboat from the early 1900s, known as the Slovenian or 'Sava's Titanic,' has surfaced from the Sava River near Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia, as extreme heat and drought cause rivers across Europe to reach record low levels.
Hurricane Lala strengthened to Category 1 as it approached Hawaii's Big Island, bringing heavy rain, strong winds, and widespread power outages affecting over 180,000 customers, with flooding risks continuing.
Firefighters are battling Belgium's largest modern-day wildfire, which has burned over 3,000 hectares of the High Fens nature reserve and is heading toward the German border. The EU deployed helicopters and water bombers to assist, with hundreds evacuated.
Record-breaking rainfall has caused severe flooding in Chiba prefecture east of Tokyo, killing at least 5-8 people and forcing the evacuation of approximately 230,000 residents. The flooding has stranded travelers and submerged roads across the region.
Firefighters are tackling multiple fires across central and southern England, including blazes that have caught up houses, as the UK experiences its hottest day of the year amid an intense European heatwave. The Fire Brigades Union has called the situation an 'unprecedented summer of dangerous and volatile wildfires' and designated equipping firefighters a 'national priority.'
Strong winds drove wildfires through the Halkidiki region of northern Greece on Thursday, forcing tourists and residents to flee villages by land and sea during peak holiday season. The blaze engulfed houses and trees near resort areas.
The UK Health Security Agency and Met Office have issued amber heat health alerts across England as the country faces its fifth heatwave of the summer, with temperatures expected to reach up to 38C. The alerts cover south-west England and extend from South Yorkshire to east Wales and Somerset, with extreme heat conditions forecast from Tuesday through Friday.
Western Europe set a new temperature record for the June-July period, with average temperatures reaching 21.62°C and surpassing the previous 2022 record, according to the EU's Copernicus climate monitor. The extreme heat has fueled widespread drought and devastating wildfires across the continent.
Typhoon Dolphin made landfall on China's eastern coast, forcing the evacuation of over one million people and causing the cancellation of more than 2,600 flights in Shanghai over two days. The storm brought torrential rain and flooding to eastern provinces before weakening and moving north toward Beijing.
British Columbia declared a provincial state of emergency on Saturday as a rapidly spreading wildfire in the Okanagan Lake region forced more than 20,000 residents to flee their homes, with the blaze nearly doubling in size overnight. Over 100 fires are burning across western Canada as hot, dry weather and strong winds fuel the flames.
A fast-moving wildfire in British Columbia forced the evacuation of more than 20,000 people from communities along Okanagan Lake, destroying homes as the province declared a state of emergency. The fire doubled in size and continues to spread rapidly.
President Lee Jae Myung declared South Korea's deadly heatwave a national disaster after temperatures reached 42.5°C in Yangsan—the highest in 122 years of weather observations—and at least 19 people died. Seoul received its first-ever severe heatwave warning as authorities ordered emergency measures including halting outdoor work.
South Korea registered its highest temperature since records began over a century ago, reaching 42.5°C, prompting authorities to issue the country's first 'severe heatwave warning' and activate emergency response measures. The record heatwave has resulted in nearly 300 hospitalizations and over 1,700 heat-related illness cases across the peninsula.
The death toll from flash floods that struck northwestern China's Gansu Province last week has risen to 25, with 23 others injured, according to state media reports. Large parts of China remain on alert as heavy rainfall and swollen rivers continue to threaten the region.
The Environment Agency has declared seven areas across central, eastern, and southern England officially in drought, with July on track to be the driest on record. The 'flash drought' follows unusually low rainfall and the fourth heatwave of the year, creating dangerous fire conditions across the country.
Severe wildfires are raging across southwestern Europe, particularly in France and Spain, forcing the evacuation of more than 325,000 people. The fires, described as among France's worst since World War II, are fueled by record-breaking heatwaves, drought conditions, and Europe's status as the world's fastest-warming continent.
Deadly monsoon flooding across Assam and Gujarat killed at least 50 people and displaced roughly 700,000, with the Brahmaputra River submerging nearly 900 villages. Rescue operations continued as infrastructure damage prompted school closures in affected districts.
Multiple wildfires near Madrid and in Ávila province prompted Spain's first-ever national emergency declaration, displacing over 10,000 residents and triggering military deployment to support overstretched firefighting crews.
More than 20,000 people, including thousands of tourists, have been evacuated as intense wildfires spread through pine forests near Bordeaux in southwestern France. Hundreds of firefighters are battling the blazes amid extreme heat conditions.
Heavy smoke from more than 800 wildfires burning across Canada spread south on July 16, 2026, darkening skies and creating hazardous air quality conditions across the US Midwest and East Coast. Officials warned millions of Americans, particularly elderly and medically vulnerable people, to stay indoors as unhealthy air readings were reported in at least 20 states.
Scientists estimate that unprecedented heatwaves in May and June 2026 caused more than 2,700 excess deaths in England and Wales, with approximately 440 deaths per day during the June heatwave's three-day peak. Across Europe, the extreme heat resulted in over 10,000 excess deaths, with researchers attributing the severity to a 'heat dome' worsened by human-induced climate change.
Typhoon Bavi, the most powerful storm to hit mainland China in 2026, caused mass evacuations of more than 260,000 people in Liaoning province and brought intense flooding, heavy rains, and violent winds to eastern and northeastern regions before weakening to a tropical storm.
Wildfires raging across southern Europe have forced thousands to evacuate, with over 10,000 people displaced in France's Pyrenees region alone. The blazes have scorched more than 20,000 hectares across France, Spain, Portugal, and Greece, prompting officials to ban spectators from a Tour de France stage.
Multiple wildfires are burning across southern France, particularly in the Aude and Herault regions, forcing the evacuation of nearly 3,000 people. The blazes, fueled by weeks of drought, record temperatures, and strong winds, have destroyed dozens of mobile homes at a campsite and deployed up to 800 firefighters to contain them.
A deadly heat wave that has disrupted daily life across Europe for over a week reached Italy and the Balkans on Monday, causing hundreds of excess deaths and triggering widespread wildfires in southeastern Europe.
A severe heat wave linked to dozens of deaths moved across Europe in late June 2026, with temperatures exceeding 40°C (104°F). Authorities implemented emergency measures including alcohol bans and event cancellations in France, while infrastructure damage occurred in Germany and Sweden.
Japanese authorities ordered mass evacuations and issued high-level landslide warnings as two approaching tropical storms, including Typhoon Mekkhala, brought torrential rains causing transport disruptions and flooding across the country.
A severe heatwave gripping Western Europe has caused at least 212 excess deaths in Spain since Sunday, with the UK and Switzerland recording their hottest-ever June temperatures. At least 101 million Europeans are affected by the extreme heat, which has also caused power outages and health emergencies across multiple countries.
