South Atlantic
It’s been a lovely week across Ascension, with very little rainfall. St Helena has also had a very good week of weather, even as ‘Scruffy August’ approaches. Down south, conditions have remained cold, with winds often blowing up from the Southern Ocean. There has been plenty of snow, and many Falklanders will have woken to several inches this morning (Monday 27th).

World weather - Wildfires in Southern Europe
Recent hot and dry weather across Southern Europe has helped start some fierce wildfires which are still raging across parts of Greece, Sardinia, Corsica, Southern France and Eastern Spain. Some of the fires are thought to have been started by lightning strikes, and current hot weather and strong winds are exacerbating the situation for fire fighters. Central Spain has seen temperatures soaring up to around 40 Celsius, way above the July average of 31 in Madrid.

2009 Monsoon  
The Indian state of Orissa has seen hundreds of thousands of homes flooded and dozens killed during heavy monsoon rains. Karachi in Pakistan has also suffered prolonged torrential rains and flooding this week. Conversely, this year’s somewhat erratic monsoon has meant that parts of Bangladesh are experiencing unusually dry conditions, with much worry over this year’s harvest. During the Summer, prevailing Southwest winds from the Arabian Sea normally bring heavy monsoon rains to much of East and Southeast Asia.