January - Record Heatwave across Europe 

At the very start of the month a heatwave hit Europe with thousands of new winter temperature records being set. For example, Spain set a new record of 25.1 degrees C. In Warsaw, Poland, a new January record temperature of 18.9 degrees C was set which was a staggering 5.1 degrees higher than the previous record.
The extreme heat had a serious impact on ski slopes, many of which had to shut.

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January - Floods in California

After years of drought, California was hit by an "atmospheric river" which is a series of storms that bring sustained rainfall over an extended period.
In San Francisco as much as 35cm of rain fell in 2 weeks. On higher ground there was heavy snowfall, with 480cm falling on Mammoth Mountain.
The rain caused over 500 land slips, some of which caused road closures and heavy winds brought down trees which caused power outages which affected over 200,000 homes. 6,000 homes were forced to evacuate and there were at least 19 fatalities.
The Governor announced a state of emergency.

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​January - Floods in New Zealand

There was heavy rainfall centred on the Aukland area. Up to 400mm (over 15 inches) fell in 3 days and was the worst in modern history.
​There was widespread damage and disruption. Schools were closed for a week, many roads were blocked and there were power cuts to 26,500 homes and businesses. 5,000 houses suffered damage and there were at least 4 fatalities and countless loss of livestock.

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February - Wildfires in Chile

High temperatures (over 40 degrees) and years of drought has led to a particularly severe wildfire season in Chile.
Fires affected over 2700 square kilometres which was the 2nd most destructive season on record. There have been 26 deaths reported with 2000 injured. 1000 homes have been destroyed.
The fires were fought by over 6000 fire fighters and 70 planes and helicopters.
​The fires were exacerbated by the planting of non-native trees for timber which provided more fuel for the fires.

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February - New Zealand - Cyclone Gabrielle

Cyclone Gabrielle brought strong winds that caused extensive damage, heavy rain, flooding and land slips. It was described by officials as an "unprecedented natural disaster". Winds of 100 kph were widespread and there were gusts of 160 kph and rain fell at a rate of up to 20mm per hour.
​It mostly impacted upon the North Island but it led to the government declaring a National State of Emergency for just the 3rd time in the country's history. The previous two were for the Christchurch earthquake and Covid. It was the worst storm to hit New Zealand since Cyclone Bola in 1988. It followed on from damaging floods that they had experienced only a couple of weeks previously. 

It is estimated that at least a third of the North Island's 5 million population was affected. 62,000 homes lost power and more than 10,000 people were displaced by the floods. There were at least 9 fatalities. 

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February - East Africa - Cyclone Freddy

Cyclone Freddy was the most energetic storm in history. It has been claimed that this one storm released more energy than all the hurricanes that affect the USA in a whole season.

Not only was it a very strong storm, a category 5 Cyclone, with winds as high as 165 mph  (270 kph) but it was also the longest lasting in history. It formed on 4 February and did not finally dissipate until 15 March, a total of 39 days!

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​The storm formed in the Timor Sea, just north of Australia, and travelled across the Indian Sea gaining strength as it went. Normally, when storms hit land they start to weaken but Cyclone Freddy reversed direction and moved back over the Mozambique straight which meant that it was re-energized.

Freddy was the first storm ever to have had 7 cycles of intensification and only the 4th storm to have travelled all the way across the Indian Ocean.

Storm Freddy affected a number of East African countries: Malawi; Madagascar; Mozambique; Reunion; Mauritius; Zimbabwe. As the storm changed course, some of these countries were hit more than once. 

Overall, there have been more than 300 fatalities with more than 50 people missing. Lots of injuries have been reported, mostly in Malawi, and over 600,000 people affected by losing power or being displaced. Many areas experienced very heavy rainfall, as much as 500mm, and so there was widespread flooding. International Aid agencies are setting up temporary shelters.

In Madagascar 5,500 homes were destroyed and another 9000 damaged or flooded. 300,000 people were affected, many of whom were still recovering from Cyclone Batsirai.

​There was a great deal of damage to infrastructure with roads, bridges and schools being damaged and there was significant loss to agriculture. Many people had their power cut off, particularly in Malawi where the whole nation shut down their electricity generation to avoid the storm causing damage to their machines!

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March - Tornadoes in USA

The deadliest tornado in 5 decades struck Mississippi and Alabama killing 26 people. It's winds reached 160 - 200 mph and there was widespread destruction levelling whole communities. The tornado lasted for over an hour and travelled much further than is normal. One estimate put the distance travelled at 170 mph!

​President Biden announced a state of emergency.

A week later there were a series of damaging tornadoes across a wide range of states in central USA. Over 80 tornadoes in a single weekend! Over 30 fatalities were reported. Hundreds of thousands of homes lost power. Some people reported hailstones the size of tennis balls.

As many as 60 million people were put on "tornado watch" receiving a warning of the potential for extreme weather.

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April - Drought in Europe

22% of Europe is currently under an official drought warning. 

Last year there were new temperature records set in France, Spain, Italy and UK, snowfall in the Alps were down by half and France experienced their driest winter since records began.

The reservoir that serves Barcelona is now 8% of the required level which has led to restrictions on water usage being imposed for washing cars and watering gardens. Farmers have had their water usage cut by 40%. The area is a significant agricultural area (80% of all water usage is in agriculture) and so it is predicted that there will be shortages of many products which will result in price rises. There have also been restrictions on water usage of industry and even households.

High temperatures combined with low rainfall has raised fears that the wildfire season will be particularly damaging. These fears are exacerbated because there have been some wildfires already, in March which have burned through nearly 5,000 acres. In 2022 over 300,000 hectares of land were damaged by wildfires.

There have been droughts declared in 4 out of the last 5 years which have left water levels very low. The lack of snowfall in the Alps has reduced the flow of water that refills reservoirs in France and Italy so they are generally half the expected levels.  Trucks are being used to deliver water. In Switzerland they are protecting their glaciers by putting sheets on them to reflect sunlight.

Spain is the worst affected. 60% of the Spanish countryside has been affected. In Catalonia they have not experienced sustained rainfall for 2 and a half years.  2022 was the hottest year on record, a whole degree warmer than the previous hottest year. 

This year, April was  the hottest and driest on record with a new temperature records set across Spain peaking at 39 degrees. Generally, temperatures were 7 - 11 degrees above average. April also set a new record for lowest rainfall. Some reservoirs are at 25% of expectations. 

In 2022 3.5 million hectares of crops were lost to the extreme climate and there is a threat to all agriculture.

The government is providing 2.2 billion Euros of aid to help support farmers and consumers.

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April - July - Wildfires in Canada

Wildfires happen every year in Canada but with nearly 5000 fires being recorded 2023 was the worst on record. In Ontario alone there were 169 fires compared to 79 last year. There were a total of 70 evacuation orders and thousands of people were displaced. 

​It is estimated that 12,000 hectares were damaged which amounts to £% of the forest. The damage cost millions of dollars.
Smoke from the fires affected a wide area, causing air quality alerts.
It even reached Europe.


The EUs Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service calculated that the total carbon released into the atmosphere was 290 megatons (just under 3 billion kilograms)

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​May - Cyclone Mocha - Myanmar
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Cyclone Mocha was the first category 5 Cyclone since 2015. Winds of up to 130 mph caused significant damage. The worst effected were the (estimated) 1 million Rohingya refugees who lived in overcrowded camps mostly with shelters made with bamboo and tarpaulin.

Casualty figures are unreliable but there has been significant damage to infrastructure. Water distribution systems have been damaged, limiting the supply of water and increasing the risk of water borne diseases and the damage to power, communications and banking infrastructure has caused problems.  There have also been reports of damage to hospitals and schools and an increase in the number of unaccompanied children.

It has been reported that, in the area that was worst affected, Rakhine, as much as 90% of the capital city, Sittwe, has been damaged.

The floods have produced additional risks that other regions do not have to face. Venomous snakes have been displaced by the floods and present an obvious risk in some areas. There is also a fear that the floods will have moved land mines.

Myanmar took the main brunt of the Cyclone but Bangladesh was also affected although, it appears, less seriously.

Relief agencies have launched an appeal with the objective to help 1.6 million people.

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​May - Floods in Italy

After suffering from a prolonged drought in 2022, forcing the government to declare a state of emergency, Italy is now having to deal with catastrophic flooding. It mostly affected the North East part of the country.

At the start of the month there was very heavy rainfall which caused the ground to become saturated and 2 weeks later Storm Minerva arrived. Between the 2 storms there was as much rainfall as would normally fall in a half a year. As the ground was already saturated it caused major flooding.


It was reported that 23 rivers burst their banks causing 36 towns to be flooded. At least 10 fatalities have been reported and many injured. Hundreds of landslides have made travelling very difficult and damage to infrastructure has meant 50,000 are without power and 100,000 without a phone connection. Many people had to be rescued from their roofs by helicopter.

Storm Minerva also caused severe disruption in Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia.

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Northern Hemisphere Summer - Heatwaves and heavy rain around the world.

Around the world, atmospheric conditions generated heat domes in many locations which has led to many record high temperatures.  
In North America emergency services were inundated with heat related illness. People who fell over often required treatment for burns from touching the pavement which could reach over 80 degrees C.
In Phoenix Arizona temperatures exceeded 43 degrees C for a record 19 consecutive days. Seas in the North Atlantic were 5 degrees C higher than normal which was the highest since records began in 1850.
Temperatures reached 46 degrees C in Las Vegas and there were 1500 new record highs across the US.
In Death Valley a night time temperature exceeded 48 degrees which is a new world record high.
The heat wave in Mexico is reported to have caused 100 deaths.

In China a new record of 52.2 degrees C broke the old record high by nearly 2 degrees.
This was the 4th heat wave this year and it has been the hottest 6 months on record. In Beijing temperatures exceeded 35 degrees C for 14 consecutive days which set a new record.
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China was also battered by Typhoon Talim which caused widespread flooding and landslides across a range of countries. A total of 230,000 people across South East Asia were displaced. 
The Chinese city of Yulin experienced 35 hours of non-stop rain and Beihai had 615mm of rain in a single day.

The heatwave and storm affected many countries across the region including Vietnam, Siberia, India, Bangladesh and Japan which experienced the hottest May on record.

South Korea experienced the most rainfall for 115 years with 50 people dead or missing. 14 people were killed when they became trapped in an underpass which filled with flood water in just a couple of minutes. A dam burst allowing 800,000 tons of water per hour to escape. 10 villages were evacuated. The government announced a total of 13 special disaster zones.
​The World Scout Jamboree was disrupted by high temperatures (a relatively modest 35 degrees C). 400 young people were treated for heat related illnesses and many delegations left.