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Although cyclones and tropical storms have raged in the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific east, Europe has encountered intense conditions of its own. A weather disturbance that formed over the Mediterranean in the middle of the week drifted northeast into the Balkan region on Thursday afternoon, bringing extensive downpours, thunderstorms and prolonged rainfall.

Ongoing Rainfall and Severe Alerts

The low-pressure area is expected to continue into Friday and beyond, with forecasting tools showing two-day totals of three to five inches of rainfall across much of the Balkan states. Red weather warnings were declared for Serbia, south-west Romania, north-east Greece, and the Dodecanese and North Aegean Islands, highlighting the risk of floods and risk to human safety. Strong winds also closed schools on the island of Zakynthos in the Ionian archipelago.

Frigid Air Adds Harshness

Chilly air masses brought in from Eastern European regions increased the severity, causing heavy snowfall across the Dinaric mountain range, with certain forecasts forecasting snow levels of up to 80cm by the weekend.

Previous Flooding in Spanish Regions

Just days before, Spain's eastern coast and the Balearic Islands endured serious flooding as the leftovers of Tropical Storm Gabrielle passed over the Iberian peninsula before coming to a halt over the nearby sea. Valencia and the island of Ibiza were worst affected; Gandia registered over 350 millimeters in half a day – more than 10 times its average for the month, while the island had 10 inches in one day, its most precipitation in a day since at least 1952.

Roads, train stations, green spaces, and schools were forced to close, while one gauge near the area of Aldaia recorded 57mm in just 35 minutes, causing the local ravine to burst its banks. These inundations come almost a year after catastrophic inundations in the region in 2024 that killed hundreds of residents.

Typhoon Bualoi Impacts Vietnamese Regions

Tropical storm Bualoi arrived onshore across Vietnam's central region this recent days, delivering heavy rain, strong winds, and large swells. More than 300mm of rainfall was observed within a 24-hour period on Monday, triggering sudden floods and landslides that blocked over 3,000 highways and cut off villages across provinces in the north. Numerous air travel routes were disrupted or postponed, and railway services between the capital Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were halted.

There have been 36 lives lost and 147 people injured, with 21 individuals still missing. Hundreds of thousands of residences were impacted or inundated, with more than 51,000 hectares of farmland ruined. The Vietnamese authorities has assessed that the typhoon has led to over $350 million in damage to property this past week.