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While cyclones and hurricanes have swirled in the Atlantic and Pacific east, Europe has experienced intense weather of its own. A low-pressure system that developed over the Mediterranean Sea in the middle of the week drifted north-east into southeastern Europe on Thursday afternoon, producing widespread downpours, electrical storms and prolonged precipitation.

Persistent Precipitation and Severe Alerts

The low-pressure area is forecast to persist into the end of the week, with models suggesting 48-hour accumulations of 80 to 130 millimeters of rain across the majority of the Balkan states. Highest-level advisories were activated for the nation of Serbia, Romania's southwest, northeastern Greece, and the Greek isles, emphasizing the threat of inundation and danger to residents. High winds also forced the closure of schools on Zakynthos in the Ionian archipelago.

Frigid Air Adds Severe Conditions

Cold air drawn in from the east worsened the seriousness, causing significant snowfalls across the Dinaric Alps, with some models estimating accumulations of up to 80cm by the weekend.

Earlier Floods in Spain

Previously, eastern Spain and the Balearics endured severe floods as the leftovers of the former hurricane passed over the Iberian region before slowing over the Balearic waters. The city of Valencia and the island of Ibiza were hardest hit; The town of Gandia measured 356.8mm in 12 hours – over tenfold its average for the month, while Ibiza had 10 inches in a full day, its most precipitation in a day since at least the mid-20th century.

Roads, railway stations, public parks, and educational facilities were compelled to shut down, while one gauge near Aldaia registered over two inches in just 35 minutes, leading to the La Saleta waterway to overflow. These inundations come just shy of a year after destructive floods in Valencia in the previous year that claimed the lives of more than 230 people.

Typhoon Bualoi Affects Vietnam

Tropical storm Bualoi struck the coast across Vietnam's central region this recent days, causing intense rainfall, powerful gusts, and massive ocean waves. More than 300mm of precipitation was observed within a single day on Monday, triggering sudden floods and mudslides that obstructed more than 3,000 roads and cut off local populations across provinces in the north. Numerous air travel routes were cancelled or delayed, and rail transport between the capital Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were suspended.

Authorities reported 36 lives lost and 147 people injured, with 21 individuals still missing. Hundreds of thousands of residences were impacted or inundated, with in excess of 126,000 acres of farmland destroyed. The Vietnamese authorities has estimated that the typhoon has caused more than $350m in economic losses this past week.