Heavy rains hit central and southern parts of the Philippines last week, triggering floods and landslides which killed at least nine people and affected up to 150,000 others. In Tacloban, Leyte, a staggering 397mm of rain fell in the 24 hours to midnight last Thursday. The deluge submerged the city and sparked a landslide which killed a family of seven. This prompted the government to declare a state of emergency. Crops were flooded and dozens of homes were destroyed.
Parts of Australia were also hit by floods. In northern Queensland, onshore flow and the atmospheric instability combined to produce heavy downpours, with 238.6mm of rain falling at Rollingstone in 24 hours last Wednesday. In western Australia's Kimberly region, severe floods destroyed 45 homes and forced 217 people to evacuate. The Fitzroy River rose to a record level at Fitzroy Crossing on Wednesday, topping that of 2002.
Meanwhile, India endured heatwave conditions as hot, dry north-easterly winds sent temperatures soaring across western areas. In Mumbai, the temperature hit 41.6C on Wednesday, the highest March temperature recorded in the city since 1956.
A rare subtropical storm developed over the South Atlantic last week. Arani, the third such system to form in the basin since 2004, deepened off Brazil's coast last Tuesday before merging with another weather system.