Extremes

Record heat in North and Central America coincides with egg-sized hailstones in eastern ChinaExtreme weather across several parts of the world this week has brought record-breaking temperatures to Honduras, North America and Indonesia.Honduras smashed its all-time May maximum temperature record earlier this month – only for it to be broken again on 13 May in Choluteca, known as the furnace of Central America. Temperatures climbed to 42.2C (107.9F), surpassing the previous record of 42.1C. With intense heat forecast to persist over the coming weeks, more records are expected to fall. Continue reading...

Party makes gains in Portsmouth and Richmond upon Thames in local elections but loses a Scottish strongholdElections 2026 – live updatesFull results from England, Scotland and WalesEd Davey has sought to cast Liberal Democrat wins in England’s local elections as proof his party is best positioned to confront what he described as the “extreme populist change” offered by Reform UK and the Greens.As Labour assessed a disastrous set of results, the Lib Dems could claim they had been able to fend off Reform challenges in areas including Portsmouth, where they made gains to seize the city council, which had been under no overall control. Continue reading...

There are flooding rains in Hawaii, rare snow in Alabama and a severe heatwave in the west coastSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxThe US is experiencing a striking mix of weather extremes this March. Flooding rains in Hawaii, rare snow in Alabama, flip-flopping temperatures in the north-east and, perhaps most concerning, a severe heatwave affecting the west coast are raising questions about how strange these patterns really are, and what role the climate crisis is playing.Experts suggested that people around the US need to pay closer attention to the climatecrisis and do what they can to “minimize the impacts”. Continue reading...