Tropical storm Nalgae brought flooding to Taiwan on Monday last week, with 103mm of rainfall recorded at Taidong in the south-east during the 12 hours to midday Monday. Nalgae moved into Hainan province in southern China on Tuesday, bringing 55mph winds and torrential rain. Elsewhere in south-east Asia, the unusually severe monsoon floods continue to be a problem over parts of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. The floods on Vietnam's Mekong delta have been the worst for a decade.

Across the US, heavy thunderstorms brought flash flooding to parts of Boston last Tuesday, with 139mm of rain reported in Swampscott and 104mm in Peabody. In the south-western Colorado Mountains, the first major snowfall of the season last Thursday and Friday brought around 18cm of snow. In the eastern Pacific, tropical storm Irwin and hurricane Jova formed late last week. Both systems threaten to make landfall on the western coast of Mexico during this week.