Extreme weather hits Europe and Russia by Sean Batty
Record breaking heat continues across western and central parts of Russia this month. Meteorologists have said temperatures at times have been around 12 degrees above normal.
May 2007 has seen several temperature records broken. Central Moscow saw temperatures rise to 31.3C (88F) on Sunday. But the real swelter was on Monday when the mercury soared to 32.9C (91F), breaking the record high for the month of May.
There are fears of power outages over the coming days as electrical consumption reaches unusually high levels, as people struggle to keep cool.
Meanwhile, in contrast, many parts of Europe have been affected by very unsettled and cool weather.
Heavy storms, landslides, flash floods and lightning have killed at least 23 people across the continent over the past few days
One of the worst incidents occurred in Greece when six people died while trying to cross the rain swollen Lousios River, in the western Peloponnese.
Further north, in the German state of Brandenburg, storms and flash flooding killed three people. More heavy rain has hit Germany over the last couple of days, bringing an incredible 106mm (just over 4 inches), since Monday. This is well over the monthly average of 85mm (3.4 inches).
The heatwave across parts of Russia are set to ease towards the weekend, while many parts of Europe will continue to experience further unsettled weather.
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