UK and World weather report: Typhoon Talas worst to hit Japan since 2004
Distance travelled ~ 655'367'200 km
Last week brought typically varied conditions over the UK and while around the world tropical cyclones continued to dominate the headlines.
It was unsettled across many parts of the UK last week. In a theme that would be repeated later in the week strong winds caused some disruption on Tuesday as an Atlantic depression crossed northern Scotland. Winds reached 80 miles per hour at the Needles on the Isle of Wight as ferries were cancelled and trees uprooted in Dorset, while over 80 mm of rain fell in Snowdonia.
From midweek temperatures started to rise in eastern areas as warm air was drawn north from the continent. Highs of 24.8 Celsius were recorded at Wainfleet in Lincolnshire on Friday and 25.0 Celsuis at Leconfield, North Humberside and Weyborne in north Norfolk on Saturday.
The wind started to pick up once again on Sunday with gales developing across Scotland and cloud and rain spread from the Atlantic. This was the pre-cursor to today's particularly stormy weather as a deep area of low pressure which contained post-tropical storm Katia brought gales and heavy rain to parts of the UK. The strongest winds were recorded in exposed areas of Northern Ireland, Southern Scotland, North Wales and parts of Northern England with gusts of 76 miles per hour at Malin Head and 73 miles per hour in Glasgow.
Across the world tropical cyclones dominated the weather last week - Typhoon Talas struck the west of Japan early in the week, Tropical Depression Kulpa gave heavy rain and flooding over southern South Korea. Tropical Storm Lee drenched New York leading to complete loss of a days play at the US Open Tennis, Tropical Storm Maria passed by the islands of the northeast Carribean, Tropical Storm Nate affected the southwest of the Gulf of Mexico leading to the closure of Mexico's two main crude oil export ports.
Typhoon Talas nears the southern islands of Japan in this NASA MODIS image from September 2, 2011
Typhoon Talas was the most destructive typhoon to hit Japan since 2004. The typhoon swept through the west of the country on Sunday, dumping heavy rain and bringing winds of up to 68 miles per hour. Entire villages have been flooded, with bridges and houses destroyed.
Tropical Storm Lee caused catastrophic flooding on the US coast, flooding streets, homes and businesses, reportedly leaving eight people dead and causing more than 130,000 people to be moved for their own safety. The storm struck Maryland to New England and dropped up to a foot of rain outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which declared a state of emergency. Eight feet of water covered the river towns of Tunkhannock and Shickshinney. Elsewhere, the strong winds spread wildfires that destroyed homes and killed two people in Texas.
Kate Humble:
Helen Czerski:
Stephen Marsh:
Aira Idris:
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