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The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says hurricane Melissa is expected to cause a ‘catastrophic situation’
Hurricane Melissa is predicted to be the most powerful hurricane to hit Jamaica on record and is reported to be the strongest storm anywhere on Earth so far this year when measuring wind speeds and central pressure.
Its maximum sustained winds are 175 mph (282km/h), according to the National Hurricane Center, as of 2pm ET.
We urge the public to exercise extreme caution: activities such as climbing roofs, securing sandbags, or cutting trees may seem manageable, but even minor mistakes during hurricane conditions can result in serious injury or death.
Driving through flooded roads or areas with debris is also extremely hazardous. Health centres remain closed, but hospitals are open and attending to storm-related injuries. Please be wise, stay safe, and protect yourself and your family during this storm.
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Exclusive: ‘Devastating consequences’ now inevitable but emissions cuts still vital, says António Guterres in sole interview before Cop30
Humanity has failed to limit global heating to 1.5C and must change course immediately, the secretary general of the UN has warned.
In his only interview before next month’s Cop30 climate summit, António Guterres acknowledged it is now “inevitable” that humanity will overshoot the target in the Paris climate agreement, with “devastating consequences” for the world.
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As rising tides eat away at the Saint-Pierre and Miquelon archipelago off Canada, plans to move the historic village to higher ground have divided residents
Franck Detcheverry, Miquelon’s 41-year-old mayor, trudges up a grassy hill. “The view isn’t too bad, huh?” he jokes. The ocean sparkles 40 metres below the empty mound. The sound of a man playing the bagpipes, as if serenading the sea, floats up from the shoreline. This hill will be the location of his new home and those of all his fellow villagers.
In the distance, about half a mile away, you can see the outline of the 400 or so buildings in the village of Miquelon. It sits only 2 metres above sea level on the archipelago of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. Situated off the Canadian coast to the south of Newfoundland, it is an “overseas collectivity” of France, and the country’s last foothold in North America.
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Reduction comes from energy generated from windfarms and lower cost of gas owing to lower demand
Wind power has cut at least £104bn from energy costs in the UK since 2010, a study has found.
Users of gas have been among the biggest beneficiaries, the research suggested.
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Long Dean, Cotswolds: On the farm, we’re firmly on the path towards winter – though the fields have a spring-like greenness
Last week, we ran the neighbouring farm’s mixed beef herd back to their winter shed from some outlying fields almost two miles away. This happens twice yearly – going out and coming in – and it was all hands on deck.
Gateways, driveways, entrances to lanes all needed to be blocked, as did the B-road winding through Upper Castle Combe that the herd crosses on an awkward bend. It was quite a spectacle – a “stop the traffic” event in every sense.
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Climate crisis drives near-total collapse of staghorn and elkhorn corals that formed backbone to state’s reefs
Two of the most important coral species that made up Florida’s reef are now functionally extinct after a withering ocean heatwave caused catastrophic losses, scientists have found.
The near-total collapse of the corals that once formed the backbone of reefs in Florida and the Caribbean means they can no longer play their previously crucial role in building and sustaining reef ecosystems that host a variety of marine life.
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Japanese carmaker’s deal with Chinese rival part of EU-sanctioned offsetting scheme to help head off £13bn in fines
The Japanese carmaker Nissan is to team up with its Chinese electric vehicle rival BYD in an attempt to offset their carbon emissions and avoid EU penalties for 2025, it has confirmed.
It is part of a wider offsetting scheme the EU has sanctioned for the car industry that could help manufacturers of combustion engine cars head off an estimated £13bn in fines.
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Survivors in Valencia call for consequences, particularly for regional president, after country’s worst natural disaster this century
The endless, sticky mud that coated the streets of Valencia, sucking at the boots of survivors and residents, is gone now. As are the jumbles of wrecked cars and the mountains of sodden, ruined belongings that had begun to stink in the humid coastal air.
But one year on, lingering evidence of the worst natural disaster to befall Spain this century is everywhere. Walk through the gaping, still-doorless entrance to a block of flats in the Benetússer neighbourhood, on the southern outskirts of the city, and there is a small sign on the wall, positioned 2.5 metres (8ft) above the floor. It reads: “The flood waters rose this high on 29 October 2024.”
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A young journalist reflects on the UN leader’s responses, and hopes his messages – about human violence on an increasingly hostile planet – resonated before Cop30
There we were at the edge of the forest. The computer screen had been up for a long time, everything arranged so that nothing would go wrong; that the internet wouldn’t go down, that the computer battery wouldn’t die, and a glass of water and ice in front of me so I wouldn’t be left without words. Silence filled the other side of the camera until a figure appeared, and there he was: António Guterres, the man who speaks for the world, the secretary general of the United Nations.
A few weeks earlier, I had received an invitation from Jonathan Watts of the Guardian newspaper, asking me to interview Guterres with him. I accepted. It would be my first time speaking to someone with that level of authority. But what would I ask him?
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Being able to space out their babies is essential to the life and health chances of women in Joal. But now international aid cuts threaten to take away the few choices they have left
The fishing quay on the beach at Joal is usually so crowded with women dealing with the day’s catch that you can barely glimpse the sea. But today it is quiet, just an expanse of broken shells and plastic bags that leads down to the water’s edge.
Last night, as is increasingly common here on Senegal’s coast, there was a storm and heavy rain so the men could not go to sea safely in their open wooden fishing boats, known as pirogues. Many houses were flooded, so women stayed at home for the day, baling out bedrooms and dealing with the aftermath. Times are tough.
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