It’s been another wild week of weather around the globe, so let’s see where the wind takes us this time.
We start in Finland, where the solar winds are putting on a show. Peak viewing season for the aurora lasts until March in the Laplands, so there’s still some time to catch them in their prime.
Next, we head to the Canary Islands, where the winds brought in a dust storm large enough to be seen from space. Known locally as “Calima,” easterly winds brought in Saharan dust and shut down the airport leaving passengers stranded. More than 800 flights were affected by the airports shut down.
We say “Adios” to Spain and head to the mountains of Italy where avalanches have been prevalent this winter. Thankfully, no one was injured in this incident since the slopes were closed.
It’s been a busy February for the U.K. with two major storms slamming the isle. More than 200 flood alerts were issued across the country in recent days, leaving some resorting to creative methods of transportation such as kayaks. Others are waiting for the water to recede in their homes for the second time in two weeks.
The flooding isn’t isolated to Europe, two tropical cyclones have been wreaking havoc on the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. Water levels have reached more than four feet in some locations…killing dozens. The flooding is so bad, the nation announced last year they plans to move the capital to the island of Borneo.
The Middle East saw things falling from the sky, but it wasn’t your typical kinds of precipitation. Massive swarms of locusts have swept from the Horn of African to South Asia. While the locusts have devastated crops and food supplies across the Middle East, China says they’re prepared to defeat the insects with an army of more than 100 thousand ducks.