Weather tracker: Thunderstorms strike across Europe amid record heatwave | Europe weather

In addition to the extraordinary heat wave in Europe, thunderstorms occurred in some parts of Europe, while hailstones the size of golf balls were seen in French villages.

While thunderstorms are typical during and after periods of extreme heat, storms in countries such as France, Germany and Poland have been particularly severe, causing flooding, strong winds and large hail showers.

Some people in France reported on social media that they saw hailstones ranging from 5 to 7 cm in diameter around the towns of Aubenas, Vals-les-Bains and Lalevade-d’Ardèche in the southeast on Wednesday, with streets covered in a visible layer of hail. It damaged vehicle windshields, many buildings and vineyards.

In addition to hail, heavy rains and strong winds caused local floods in France and Poland. In the southwestern Polish city of Wrocław, roads and tram tracks were closed due to flooding, as well as strong winds blowing trees onto tram cables. Citizens were asked to stay at home and be prepared for power outages. The storms were expected to bring 30-50 mm of rain to France and more in some local areas.

Meanwhile, in Asia, heavy rains and floods linked to monsoon rains in Bangladesh killed at least 53 people. It has been raining in the capital Dhaka and surrounding areas for more than a week and serious warnings have been issued about floods and landslides. The latter covered a school with mud and debris last week, killing several female students and their teachers.

One of the worst-hit areas was the Cox’s Bazar refugee settlement, from which residents were evacuated. Chattogram district recorded 412.3 mm of rain in 24 hours; This was the highest single-day rainfall in July in the last 42 years. Approximately one million people overall are affected, with thousands more living in government shelters. Knee-deep flooding caused travel disruption, power outages and slowed emergency service response times. Since Bangladesh is a low-lying country with multiple rivers, it is at risk of inundation due to monsoons, increasing the risk of floods. Expecting more intense downpours and prolonged rainfall increases the risks of flash floods and landslides.