Extreme weather in the US over the past week has resulted in at least 40 fatalities due to various hazards, including tornadoes, dust storms, and wildfires in the midwest and south. The US National Weather Service (NWS) issued more than 300 tornado warnings between Friday and Saturday, and by Wednesday, confirmed a total of 109 tornadoes and nearly 1,000 reports of large hail and powerful thunderstorm winds. Missouri recorded 12 fatalities on Friday, with another dozen deaths in Texas and Kansas. In Mississippi, over 200 people were displaced and six lost their lives due to more than 10 tornadoes in three counties. By Sunday, more than 320,000 people were left without power, with around 75,000 still without power in Pennsylvania and Missouri on Monday. The extreme weather also led to the cancellation of nearly 1,100 flights.

In Texas and Oklahoma, wind-driven wildfires caused significant destruction, with authorities reporting 130 fires across Oklahoma alone. These fires burned through approximately 70,000 hectares (170,000 acres) and damaged over 400 homes. Oklahoma’s chief medical examiner confirmed that at least four people died as a result of the fires or high winds.

In Italy, torrential rainfall led to widespread flooding and landslides, triggering red alerts in cities like Florence, Pisa, Tuscany, and Bologna. Between Friday 14 March and Sunday 16 March, regions including Florence experienced rainfall levels double the average for the month of March, with over 53mm falling in just 6 hours on Friday morning. This intense downpour caused rivers to overflow and led to rapid flooding, resulting in closed schools, impassable streets, and the evacuation of many residents.

The severe rainfall in Italy was caused by a “blocking high” pressure system that dominated the north-east Atlantic, acting as a barrier to low pressure systems and diverting them through the Mediterranean.