Up until a month or so ago, it had been a relatively quiet 'storm year' for the Philippines. Most of the major storms and typhoons had been steered north to Japan (such as during the Japanese Grand Prix).
However, over the last month there has been a significant change in the direction of the steering winds, which have pushed a succession of typhoons over the Philippines.
Typhoon Nanmadol has become the fourth storm to hit the Philippines in the last two weeks. It slammed into Quezon Province, north of Manila, on Thursday night, lashing the province with 120mph winds and driving rain. Daet, in the path of the typhoon, recorded 228mm (9 inches)of rain in just 12 hours. This equates to half the December average in half a day.
The frequency of these damaging winds and torrential rain events has brought chaos across the island chain. Although the typhoon has passed, rescue efforts have been hampered by floods and mudslides, which have cut off many areas.
Next in the path of the typhoon is Taiwan. Due to the weather pattern at this time of year, it is extremely rare for a typhoon to reach this area in December. Nanmadol, expected over Taiwan this weekend, will be the first typhoon recorded here in 100 years!
Not only are we seeing unusual weather in southeast Asia, but weather records are being turned on their heads in the Arabian Sea.
At the moment tropical cyclone Agni is slowly heading towards Somalia. Winds are expected to gust to 45mph this weekend as Agni makes landfall north of Mogadishu.
Cyclones are relatively rare here. On average only one cyclone is expected every three years. So far this year there have been a staggering five cyclones in the Arabian Sea!
