Weather tracker: China rainfall triggers flash floods and landslides

Heavy downpours cause death and destruction across Guangdong and Guangxi, with further rainfall expected

Southern China has been battered by heavy rainfall over the past week, triggering landslides and flash floods, especially in Guangdong and Guangxi.

As of Saturday 24 May, at least four people had died and 17 were missing, adding to a toll of seven deaths from other recent events. More than 400 emergency personnel have been deployed to the region.

Additional intense rainfall is forecast this week across south-western China, with more than 100mm expected in parts of Guizhou and Hunan on Tuesday, and totals possibly exceeding 80mm locally in Fujian and 120mm in Zhejiang on Wednesday. Taiwan is also expected to have heavy rainfall this week as the weather system moves eastwards.

New Zealand’s South Island also faced torrential rain over the weekend, prompting weather warnings across the region. A front from the Tasman Sea brought heavy downpours and strong northerly and north-westerly winds, reaching gale force in exposed areas. Rainfall totals reached between 130-160mm in places on Sunday near the west coast, while significant totals were also recorded in Canterbury and Otago.

The north-westerly winds brought moist air from the Tasman Sea, leading to heavy downpours after the air crossed the Southern Alps. The mountain range also heightened the winds, forcing air upwards to create turbulent and gusty conditions.

Large parts of northern Africa, the Middle East, and southern Asia have experienced extreme heat in recent days. A dome of very hot air, stretching from Libya through Saudi Arabia and into Pakistan, pushed surface temperatures into the high 40s Celsius across a wide region last week, with some parts even exceeding 50C. In south-western Iran, a weather station near the city of Ashajari recorded 50.6C last Friday, while temperatures above 50C were also observed in parts of Pakistan, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.

While these regions are typically very hot at this time of year, temperatures of this magnitude are about 10-15C above the May average. In Iran, temperatures are approaching the country’s all-time record of 53.7C, set in June 2017. Recent studies have found that the likelihood of such extreme heat in the Middle East has increased rapidly due to human-induced climate breakdown.

According to a 2021 BBC analysis, the number of days during the 2010s with temperatures exceeding 50C had doubled compared with the 1980s, a trend expected to accelerate as global temperatures rise.

Over the weekend, temperatures began easing closer to average, and this slight cooling trend is set to continue through the following few days. Nevertheless, daytime highs in the low to mid 40s Celsius were still expected through this week.

Cover photo:  People walk past a landslide in Gaozhou City, in south China's Guangdong province, following heavy rainfall earlier this month. Photograph: Deng Hua/AP