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Agence France-Presse
The death toll from five days of “torrential rain” in Pakistan has risen to almost 400, Agence-France Press reports, with disaster officials reporting that more than 356 people have been killed in the northern mountainous province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since Thursday evening. According to the newswire, officials have warned that monsoon downpours would continue until the weekend. "In a matter of minutes, we lost everything we had," said Umar Islam, a 31-year old labourer speaking to AFP. Reuters reports that the northern village of Buner received more than 150mm of rain within an hour, “triggered by a cloudburst”, killing more than 200 people – “the single most destructive event in this monsoon season”. Citing local officials, the New York Times reports that only 25 out of 400 houses were left undamaged in the district of Buner, with mourners having to “cover the freshly dug graves with plastic tarps because the relentless rain gave no respite”. The “sudden heavy rains” caught Pakistani authorities off guard, despite “millions of dollars committed to early monitoring systems over the past several years”, the newspaper says, adding that increasingly heavier deluges have become a “recurring phenomenon” for the country.
According to the Associated Press, Buner residents “accused authorities of failing to issue timely evacuation warnings”, while officials said “the cloudburst struck so suddenly that warnings could not be delivered”. As government authorities reopened damaged roads in Pakistan’s north and “restored 70% of the region’s electricity”, heavy rains yesterday “lashed” southern Pakistan and killed at least 10 people including in the port city of Karachi, the newswire says. Al Jazeera quotes Pakistan’s national disaster authority chief as saying that the country was “experiencing shifting weather patterns because of climate change” and that the “intensity of this year’s monsoon is around 50 to 60% more than last year”. Outlets including the Guardian, BBC News, Independent, Middle East Eye and CNN also cover the developing story.
MORE ON SOUTH ASIA
Experts tell the Indian Express that climate change “acts like a steroid” for the monsoon, after Mumbai records over 900mm of rainfall in four days. The Times of India reports that over 20 people have died from rain-related incidents in the state, while the Hindu reports that nearly 800 people were rescued as two monorails came to a halt as Mumbai was “pounded by rain”. Mint reports that reservoirs “brimming” from heavy monsoon rains could fuel India’s “hydropower surge” for the second consecutive year. Mongabay reports that Sri Lanka’s president has suspended wind power projects in the northern “bird migration hotspot” of Mannar, pending a review of ecological concerns.
Suman Naishadham, The Associated Press
Spain continued to battle several major fires yesterday, even as temperatures began to drop across the country, AP reports. It continues: “Thousands of firefighters aided by soldiers and water-bombing aircraft fought fires tearing through parched woodland that were especially severe in northwestern Spain, where the country’s weather agency AEMET reported a still “very high or extreme” fire risk – particularly in the Galicia region.” Le Monde reports that Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez warned that the nation still faced “difficult hours ahead” in its fight against wildfires. The Daily Telegraph reports on data showing Spain is facing its worst wildfire season record, with the total area burned this year equivalent to an area twice the size of London. New research has linked more than 1,100 deaths to Spain’s August heatwave, Agence France-Presse reports.
MORE ON WILDFIRES
Bloomberg covers new satellite estimates from the Copernicus space programme showing that Europe’s wildfires are the largest since 2006. The Associated Press reports that “dangerous heat” will arrive in California and the south-western US, raising the risk of wildfires. The Guardian covers a new study finding inhaling wildfire smoke is much more deadly than previously thought.
Joe Cash and Shi Bu, Reuters
Heavy rains have killed 13 people in northern China’s Inner Mongolia province, Reuters reports, citing state news agency Xinhua. The newswire adds that “heavy rainfall and severe floods that meteorologists link to climate change” are posing “major challenges”, including “economic losses running into billions”. Meanwhile, China Weather says that the cumulative precipitation across regions in northern China during this year’s flood season has been “more than double the normal level”, with some areas experiencing “a whole year’s worth of rain in just one month”. An article by Outlook Weekly, a state-owned media outlet managed by Xinhua, says that northern cities in China are “under the test of heavy rain”, which have disrupted electricity supply, production and transportation.
MORE ON CHINA
Bloomberg: “China’s use of fossil fuels is falling while power demand is surging.” China Energy Storage Alliance says the total capacity of installed “new energy” storage exceeded 100 gigawatts (GW) in the first half of 2025, BJX News reports. Coastal provinces in China, such as Fujian province, are expanding offshore energy production as part of their longer-term marine economy plans, SCMP says. Reuters: “China’s overcapacity crackdown faces litmus test in solar sector.” NEA deputy director Bian Guangqi says official support for hydrogen energy is “steadfast”, reports China Daily, which calls China a “global leader” in hydrogen. The Financial Times has a “big read” titled: “The Iranian connection: how China is importing oil from Russia”
Megan Rowling, Climate Home News
Incoming COP30 president and Brazilian diplomat André Corrêa do Lago has said he is preparing for a “clash of views” on how countries should respond to an upcoming review of their overdue climate plans, Climate Home News reports. In his sixth open letter ahead of COP30 in the Amazon city of Belém in November, Corrêa do Lago said a divergence in views on how the world should respond to an upcoming review of country climate plans, known as nationally determined contributions or NDCs, “can and must be bridged”, the outlet says. It continues that Brazil has said it will hold a “series of consultations, starting in the coming weeks with an online session for all countries” to discuss how to respond to NDCs. Elsewhere, the Associated Press reports that Indigenous leaders from across the Amazon are “urging South American presidents meeting in Bogota [Colombia] this week to turn promises to protect the region’s rainforest into concrete action, and to give Indigenous groups more say in the region’s future”.
Helena Horton, The Guardian
New analysis by the Guardian and the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) has found the UK is “falling behind the EU” in several areas of environmental rulemaking following Brexit. The newspaper says: “Since Brexit, the analysis has found the EU has brought forward 28 new, revised or upgraded pieces of environmental legislation that the UK has not adopted, and the UK has actively chosen to regress by changing four different pieces of legislation including on protected habitats, pesticides and fisheries.” It continues that the “UK is falling behind the EU in terms of protecting rare creatures such as red squirrels, cleaning up the air and water, removing dangerous chemicals from products, and making consumer products more recyclable and energy efficient”. The Guardian also has an explainer on the new findings.
MORE ON UK
DeSmog reports that MPs have “slam[med]” a climate-sceptic Trump advisor for spreading misinformation about the UK’s climate policies. The Press Association says thousands of people have asked the energy watchdog to prevent a plan for Tesla to supply electricity to UK homes. Sky News speaks to an 88-year-old woman at risk of losing her home from coastal erosion. The Daily Telegraph reports that energy bills will rise in October due to a “government levy that subsidises electricity and gas for the UK’s poorest homes”. Another Daily Telegraph story notes that the only two car models eligible for the full discount under the government’s electric vehicle subsidy scheme are currently not on the market.
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