Temperatures of more than 45C have left population of 29 million exhausted – but the poorest suffer most

As the water tanker drove into a crowded Delhi neighbourhood, a ruckus erupted. Dozens of residents ran frantically behind it, brandishing buckets, bottles and hoses, and jumped on top of it to get even a drip of what was stored inside. Temperatures that day had soared to 49C (120F), the hottest day on record – and in many places across India’s vast capital, home to more than 29 million people, water had run out.

Every morning, Tripti, a social health worker who lives in the impoverished enclave of Vivekanand Camp, is among those who has to stand under the blazing sun with buckets and pots, waiting desperately for the water tanker to arrive.

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© Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters

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© Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters

Research that looked at 53 million births says Black and Hispanic mothers and those in lower socioeconomic groups most at risk

Heatwaves increase rates of preterm births, which can lead to poorer health outcomes for babies and impact their long-term health, a new study found.

Black and Hispanic mothers, as well as those in lower socioeconomic groups, are particularly at risk of delivering early following heat waves.

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© Photograph: Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Getty Images

Climate change has intensified the risks we face in places like Lowestoft, left without adequate flood defences, writes Kate Stott

Rachel Keenan’s account of the rapid and ongoing destruction of her home town of Inverbervie, Aberdeenshire, is stark, but sadly she is not alone (‘The fear has properly set in’: how it feels to watch my home town disappear into the sea, 21 May).

Here in Lowestoft, Suffolk, the tidal surge resulting from December 2013’s Storm Xaver left 158 homes and 233 commercial properties flooded, with many people made homeless. In response, improved floodwalls were completed in 2023, but in January 2024 the plug was pulled on the construction of a tidal barrier due to the emergence of a £124m funding gap. Instead of a flood defence system, Lowestoft has therefore been left with what worryingly looks a lot like a funnel.

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© Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

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© Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

Meteorological department examining data from Mungeshpur station amid soaring temperatures that came close to 50 degrees Celsius

• Record-breaking heat hits Delhi – in pictures

Authorities in India are investigating whether a faulty sensor may have been behind a reading that showed temperatures in Delhi soaring past 50 degrees for the first time, amid a scorching heatwave in the capital.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said it was examining the data and sensors at the Mungeshpur station after an unusually large variation in temperatures was recorded at the station compared to others.

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© Photograph: Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

Since last May, the average person experienced 26 more days of abnormal warmth than they would have without global warming, a new analysis found.

© Fareed Khan/Associated Press

Recommendations include heat forecasts and outdoor-worker safeguards to prevent thousands of deaths and injuries

Millions of Americans face the threat of dangerous heatwaves in the coming weeks with another summer of record-breaking temperatures forecast to hit the US.

Most of New Mexico and Utah – alongside parts of Arizona, Texas and Colorado – have the highest chance (60% to 70%) of seeing hotter-than-average summer temperatures, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). In addition, the entire north-east – from Maine down to Pennsylvania and New Jersey – as well as a large stretch from Louisiana to Arizona, Washington and Idaho, have a 40% to 50% chance of experiencing above-average temperatures from June through August.

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© Illustration: Guardian Design

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© Illustration: Guardian Design

Storms obliterate homes, a truck stop and more across the central US as police report the dead include two children, ages two and five

Powerful storms killed at least 15 people and left a wide trail of destruction Sunday across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas after obliterating homes and destroying a truck stop where drivers took shelter during the latest deadly weather to strike the central US.

Seven deaths were reported in Cooke County, Texas, near the Oklahoma border, where a tornado Saturday night plowed through a rural area near a mobile home park, officials said. Storms also caused damage in Oklahoma, where guests at an outdoor wedding were injured. Tens of thousands of residents were without power across the region.

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© Photograph: Julio Cortez/AP

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© Photograph: Julio Cortez/AP

Warnings of possible flooding, travel delays and power cuts as Met Office issues yellow warning

More than an inch of rain could fall in one hour as thunderstorms lash parts of England and Wales, forecasters have warned.

Slow-moving showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop on Sunday afternoon, with 20-30mm of rain predicted. There may also be hail and lightning strikes, with people warned to expect possible flooding, travel delays and power cuts.

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© Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Yellow warnings for swathes of England and north Wales on Sunday as Met Office predicts up to 40mm of rain

Grey clouds, wet weather and heavy thunderstorms will dampen the bank holiday weekend for many, with yellow warnings in place from midday on Sunday.

Although Saturday will remain largely dry and bright, with temperatures reaching as high as 22C in London and south-east England, the late May bank holiday could end in a washout, with “scattered, heavy and thundery downpours” predicted by the Met Office.

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© Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/REX/Shutterstock

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© Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/REX/Shutterstock

Smaller secondary systems that create hailstorms and tornadoes pack a punch that is causing billions of dollars in damages

This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration

The rising cost of homeowner’s insurance is now one of the most prominent symptoms of the climate crisis in the US. Major carriers such as State Farm and Allstate have pulled back from offering fire insurance in California, dropping thousands of homeowners from their books, and dozens of small insurance companies have collapsed or fled from Florida and Louisiana following recent large hurricanes.

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© Photograph: Scott Morgan/Reuters

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© Photograph: Scott Morgan/Reuters

In the state of Rio Grande do Sul, authorities are struggling to find shelter for half a million displaced people as a health crisis looms

As the rain poured down during the night of 3 May, a stream of people began to arrive at the Lutheran University of Brazil in Canoas, a city in the southernmost state of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul. For a week, heavy rains had been pummelling the landscape, raising river levels and flooding homes, forcing many to seek shelter elsewhere.

Three weeks later, the university harbours thousands of people and is the largest camp for the displaced amid a growing humanitarian crisis in the state of 10 million inhabitants. More than 580,000 people have been displaced, with almost 70,000 of them depending on shelters, according to a state government report. A total of 2.3 million people have been affected by the torrential rain and floods.

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© Photograph: Daniel Marenco/The Guardian

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© Photograph: Daniel Marenco/The Guardian

Dangerously high temperatures follow wettest April since 1961 as country swings between extremes

Pakistan is in the midst of an intense heatwave, with hundreds of heatstroke victims being treated in hospitals across the country.

Temperatures soared to 49C (120F) on Wednesday in Mohenjo-daro, in the southern Sindh province. These temperatures are more than 8C above May’s average daytime temperature. Authorities in Punjab have been forced to close schools for a week and are advising people to remain indoors. Many labourers have, however, continued to work out of financial necessity.

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© Photograph: Shahzaib Akber/EPA

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© Photograph: Shahzaib Akber/EPA

Torrential rain did not stop garden lovers – or Guardian photographer Sarah Lee – from enjoying the 2024 Chelsea flower show on Wednesday

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© Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian

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© Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian

Do you rent out holiday lets? How many bookings have you had for this year? How does it compare to previous years?

With summer just around the corner, many families will have already booked holidays, with plenty opting to stay in the UK.

Although visitor numbers to the UK’s top tourist attractions are increasing, they continue to remain stubbornly below pre-pandemic levels.

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© Photograph: Monica Wells/Alamy

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© Photograph: Monica Wells/Alamy

The loss of the ecosystems, which are vast stores of carbon, would ‘be disastrous for nature and people across the globe’, says IUCN

Half of all the world’s mangrove forests are at risk of collapse, according to the first-ever expert assessment of these crucial ecosystems and carbon stores.

Human behaviour is the primary cause of their decline, according to the analysis by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with mangroves in southern India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives most at risk.

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© Photograph: Francis R Malasig/EPA

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© Photograph: Francis R Malasig/EPA

The damage was unusual, experts say, because turbines are built to withstand extreme weather. Iowa is a wind powerhouse, with thousands of turbines.

© Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

Incident follows heavy rain across the UK, with Met Office warning the ‘worst is yet to come’

A person has died in a mudslide in Carlton-in-Cleveland, on the edge of the North York Moors national park.

North Yorkshire police said the incident occurred at 1.15pm on Wednesday and that no one else was injured.

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© Photograph: John Devlin/Alamy

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© Photograph: John Devlin/Alamy

Met Office issues amber warning for next few days, with persistent rain across much of the country

• ‘Never-ending’ UK rain made 10 times more likely by climate crisis, study says

Heavy rain could bring flooding and travel disruption across much of the UK on Wednesday and Thursday with an amber warning issued for part of the country.

The Met Office has issued the warning for parts of north Wales and north-west England, including Liverpool and Manchester, for 24 hours from noon on Wednesday.

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© Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

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© Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

Winter downpours also made 20% wetter and will occur every three years without urgent carbon cuts, experts warn

The seemingly “never-ending” rain last autumn and winter in the UK and Ireland was made 10 times more likely and 20% wetter by human-caused global heating, a study has found.

More than a dozen storms battered the region in quick succession between October and March, which was the second-wettest such period in nearly two centuries of records. The downpour led to severe floods, at least 20 deaths, severe damage to homes and infrastructure, power blackouts, travel cancellations, and heavy losses of crops and livestock.

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© Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA

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© Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA

Photographer Gideon Mendel has filmed and photographed floods around the world extensively. He travelled by boat through the historic town centre of Port Alegre, documenting the reflections across a city that had become a liquid landscape

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© Photograph: Gideon Mendel

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© Photograph: Gideon Mendel

While fatalities are rare, severe turbulence is up 55% since 1979 – with the climate crisis thought to be making the problem worse

The death of a British passenger and injuries to others on a Singapore Airlines passenger flight from London has underlined the potential dangers of turbulence. But what causes turbulence, how much risk does it pose – and is the climate crisis making it worse?

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© Photograph: Rungroj Yongrit/EPA

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© Photograph: Rungroj Yongrit/EPA

Inverbervie, on the north-east coast of Scotland, faces an existential threat, with storms carving away metres of shoreline. Can anything be done to save what is left?

A decade ago, on my friend’s birthday, we took a huge tent and stayed the night at our local campsite. We laughed as we put the tent up where the grass met the shingle beach, the sunshine glistening on the water, the sound of the waves scraping the stones. I remember a night of ghost stories, teenage gossip and chasing each other with seaweed.

But the land where we pitched our tent is no longer there. It’s somewhere in the North Sea.

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© Photograph: Supplied image

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© Photograph: Supplied image

Experts call for conservation action as the features on Rapa Nui’s famous monoliths are eroded by fire and rain

The Ahu Tahai moai, on the east side of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, is an impressive 4.5 metres high. Carved from a soft volcanic rock, the statue looks out solemnly over the island, with its back to the bay.

The Tahai (“where the sun sets”) and the island’s other thousand or so moai were erected roughly between 1100 and 1700 as a representation of Rapa Nui’s ancestors.

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© Photograph: UNESCO

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© Photograph: UNESCO

Met Office says downpours could be ‘intense’ on Tuesday, with alerts also covering large parts of Wales

Thunderstorm warnings have been issued across south-west England and parts of Northern Ireland for Tuesday that could continue into the evening.

The Met Office also said “intense” downpours, with up to 2in (5cm) of rain, could be expected to fall over a few hours in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Plymouth, Somerset, Torbay and in western parts of Northern Ireland.

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© Photograph: Dorset Media Service/Alamy

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© Photograph: Dorset Media Service/Alamy

Low pressure also expected to raise temperatures in eastern Canada and north-east US, while temperatures plummet in west

After a lull in recent weeks, storm season in the US has begun to ramp up again, with 100mph winds and tennis ball-sized hail hitting Kansas on Sunday. It has been a busy season so far in terms of severe storms, with late spring into early summer typically bringing the greatest risk for tornadoes across the plains and midwest. An area of low pressure moving in across the central US, combined with rich moisture streaming in from the Gulf of Mexico, will probably continue the threat of tornadoes and large hail across numerous states. On Tuesday in particular, this severe weather risk may extend from Oklahoma all the way up to the Great Lakes.

This setup of low pressure could lead not just to a large outbreak of severe weather across the US later this week, but also to a sharp temperature gradient across the US and Canada as the warm air is fed into higher latitudes. In eastern Canada and the north-eastern US, temperatures are likely to reach 10C above the average for the time of year. Cities such as Ottawa and Detroit could have daytime maximum temperatures of 30C by Wednesday.

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© Photograph: Cecile Clocheret/AFP/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Cecile Clocheret/AFP/Getty Images

Reports hitting the wires of a 'hard landing' of helicopter involving Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian

As the prestige flower event begins, horticulturalists are shown how a waterlogged patch can help counter climate crisis

Gardeners should “embrace the bog” that has formed in backyards across the country after record rain, a designer at this week’s Chelsea flower show has said.

Naomi Slade will unveil her design for a floodproof garden on 21 May, showing that even with the unusually wet weather seen in recent months, British gardens can still be full of colourful flowers.

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© Photograph: Sophia Evans/The Observer

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© Photograph: Sophia Evans/The Observer

Thousands of homes and farming land damaged in Ghor province, a week after over 300 people killed in flash floods

At least 60 people have been killed in a fresh bout of heavy rain and flooding in central Afghanistan, according to an official.

Dozens others remained missing, said Abdul Wahid Hamas, spokesperson for Ghor’s provincial governor, on Saturday. He said the province had suffered significant financial losses, with thousands of homes and properties damaged and hundreds of hectares of agricultural land destroyed in the floods on Friday, including in the province’s capital city, Feroz Koh.

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© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

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© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Met Office says heavy rain and sudden flooding could occur in affected areas and cause transport disruption

Thunderstorm warnings have been issued by the Met Office across England and Wales for Saturday afternoon and continuing into the evening.

A yellow weather warning is in place between 1pm and 8pm, covering large parts of Wales and south-west England.

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© Photograph: Kathy deWitt/Alamy

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© Photograph: Kathy deWitt/Alamy

Scientists say storms like those that battered Houston could become more intense as the planet warms, though pinning down trends is still challenging.

© David J. Phillip/Associated Press

The best weather conditions for viewing the colorful light display will be in much of the West while New England was “a question mark,” a forecaster said.

© Blake Benard/Getty Images

The Space Weather Prediction Center said solar activity would be high again on Saturday.

© Olivier Morin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The number of tornadoes so far in the United States this year is just above average. But their distribution is changing.

© Ronald W. Erdrich/The Abilene Reporter-News, via Associated Press

As record heat enveloped the nation, the rate of emergency room visits increased compared with the previous five years, a sign of the major health risks of high temperatures.

© Matt York/Associated Press