After Tropical Storm Beryl broke records last week for being the earliest recorded category 5 Atlantic hurricane, the system began barrelling towards the Texas coast, where it made landfall on Monday.
Beryl was downgraded to a tropical storm crossing the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico on Friday, but was forecast to restructure and intensify as it moved into favourable conditions.
The National Hurricane Center said Beryl’s greatest intensification would be just before landfall, and that it would continue a northward trajectory inland and transition into a post-tropical cyclone. For Beryl to qualify as a hurricane once more, it must reach sustained wind speeds of 74-95mph; some meteorological models are suggesting that the higher of these winds could be achieved, with wind gusts around 120mph just off the coast.
Strong winds are not the only thing the population must brace for, with torrential rain, flooding and a tornado threat to the east of Beryl’s track, too.
A coastal flood warning has been issued for the entire Texas coast, as well as parts of Louisiana, as a storm surge is expected to sweep across the region. Waters potentially reaching six feet (1.8 metres) above sea level could be seen, as the surge may combine with high tide. The storm surge is expected to inundate coastal areas and sweep upstream into Galveston Bay and beyond, reaching the city of Houston.
In addition to the coastal flooding threat, the National Hurricane Center has issued a moderate threat level for flash flooding on Monday and Tuesday. Meteorological models are predicting a staggering 200mm of rainfall within 24 hours across eastern Texas. This extraordinary amount of rainfall would be equivalent to nearly five times the average monthly rainfall for July in parts of eastern Texas, and poses a significant threat to life and infrastructure. The flash flood zone stretches from Corpus Christi on the southern coast to more than 340 miles (550km) north, near the state borders of Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Sweltering heat is expected to grip parts of south-eastern Europe once more, with temperatures soaring as much as 10C above average from Wednesday. Romania, Serbia and Hungary will bear the brunt of the heat, with daytime temperatures expected to reach 40C in cities – just a degree or two shy of the highest maximum temperature records for many weather stations during July. Minimum night-time temperatures are expected to remain in the high 20s celsius. This intense heat is expected to last through the weekend before temperatures gradually return to normal by Tuesday 16 July.