Climate, in brief

Cyclone Arnab formed over the Bay of Bengal and is expected to hit Andhra Pradesh, a state on India's east coast, by Wednesday morning. [1]

India's weather service says gusts could reach 140 km/h, and that the storm will probably grow stronger first. [1]

On Monday night the storm sat in the middle of the bay, over water of about 30C, with winds of about 145 km/h. [2]

Weak winds high above the storm are letting it strengthen quickly, the Washington Post's weather team says. [2]

It is growing into what India's weather service calls a very severe cyclonic storm, roughly as strong as a category 2 or 3 hurricane. [2]

It could come ashore on Tuesday night south of Visakhapatnam, a port city, near the Krishna river. [2]

Near Kakinada, north of the centre, the sea could rise about 1 to 1.5 metres above normal, and rain could total 30 to 50 cm in places. [2]

Andhra Pradesh has listed 570,000 people as vulnerable, and a state official told Reuters that evacuations would start on Monday evening. [1]

The state called boats at sea back to shore and ordered power to be restored quickly if supply is cut. [1]

Neighbouring Odisha shut schools and colleges in five districts for Tuesday and Wednesday and is preparing to move people from low-lying areas to cyclone shelters. [1]

It could be the region's strongest cyclone since Cyclone Hudhud in 2014, the Post says. [2]

After landfall the storm should weaken quickly, drift north and die out over north-east India by the end of the week. [2][3]

Why it matters. The next test is landfall, due between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, and whether the change in high winds the Post's forecasters expect weakens Arnab before it reaches the coast. [1][2]

Wholesale gas in Europe hit 97 euros a megawatt-hour, a unit of energy, on Monday, the highest since 2022, as cold weather arrived. [4] Britain's month-ahead price rose 4% to 240 pence a therm, its highest since December 2022. [4] Europe's stores are about 75% full, against a usual 80% for the time of year. [4] They are the lowest in more than a decade, because Qatar shipped less and summer heat burned more gas for cooling. [4]

Why it matters. Germany is paying firms about 245 million euros to keep extra gas in store, including 107 million for February and March. [5] Its stores were 61.1% full on 21 October, against 75.4% a year earlier. [5]

A 2023 draft letter from Western Australia's environment watchdog, seen by the Guardian, said Woodside's Browse gas plan could badly damage the corals of Scott Reef. [10] Woodside hopes for approval next year to drill more than 50 wells about 300 km off the Kimberley coast. [10] The watchdog's staff warned of serious or irreversible harm to green turtles and pygmy blue whales. [10] Woodside has since added explosive shear rams, which it says could seal a leaking well in seconds. [10]

Why it matters. Browse gas would feed Woodside's North West Shelf plant, approved to run until 2070, and burning that gas could release about 88 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. [10] Only two of the watchdog's nine board members were there when it leaned towards rejecting Browse in 2024. [10]

Scientists led by Richard Allan at the University of Reading used satellite data to estimate how much heat the north Atlantic gives off to the air. [11] They found it fell 18% in 40 years. [11] From that, they worked out that the AMOC, the system of currents that carries warm water north and keeps Europe mild, slowed 14% in 30 years. [11] Ocean buoys show a fall of about 10% since 2004. [11] The study has not yet been checked by other scientists. [11]

Why it matters. Some research suggests the current could collapse as soon as 2060, bringing Europe much colder winters and stronger storms. [11] Britain is spending 81 million pounds to build an early warning system for that by 2030. [11]

Climate groups said Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's new term as Brazil's president keeps alive his pledge to end deforestation by 2030. [16] Between August 2025 and March 2026, forest clearing in Brazil's Amazon fell 36% on a year earlier. [16] Nearly a fifth of the Amazon has already been cut down. [16] Scientists warn that more loss could push the forest past a point where it dries out for good. [16]

Why it matters. Voters also gave the Liberal Party of his rival, Flavio Bolsonaro, the most seats in both houses of Brazil's Congress. [16] Observatorio do Clima, a Brazilian climate group, found nearly 70% of the new lawmakers give little support to environmental protection. [16]

About 22,600 properties in Britain were still without power after Storm Boelo, the Energy Networks Association said. [12] The group, which speaks for the companies that run power lines, said about 700,000 customers were reconnected over the weekend. [14] Two men were killed by falling trees on Sunday. [12] The Met Office, Britain's weather service, issued new wind warnings for Scotland as a third storm arrived, with coastal gusts of up to 105 km/h. [13]

Why it matters. The group's head said engineers cannot safely replace poles while the wind blows, and that Britain needs to debate how much more to spend on storms brought by climate change. [12] Schools in the Western Isles, off Scotland's west coast, stay shut until at least Wednesday. [13]

Flash floods hit all three districts of Phuket, a Thai island popular with tourists, on Monday after heavy rain overnight. [15] About 100 households were affected and no one was reported hurt, the deputy governor said. [15] Thailand's weather department warned of more heavy rain in the south until Wednesday. [15] Floods across Thailand since mid-September have killed at least 83 people, the country's disaster agency says. [15]

Why it matters. Mudslides left cars half-buried, and officials are clearing debris before it falls into canals and blocks waterways. [15]

Oxfam, an anti-poverty charity, says the richest 0.1% of people invest heavily in the business of preparing for and rebuilding after disasters. [9] That market is forecast to grow from 70 billion to 92 billion dollars a year by 2029. [9] Oxfam lists 217 companies that either drive warming or sell protection from it, from flood barriers to insurance. [9] Last year they made 1.8 billion dollars each on average and paid out 1 billion in dividends. [9]

Why it matters. The report says the richest 0.1%, about 8 million people, cause more emissions than the poorest 3.5 billion combined. [9] Oxfam wants higher taxes on the rich, on private jets and on oil and gas companies. [9]

Saudi Arabia plans to store crude oil in the Jurong Rock Caverns, an underground store in Singapore, from the second half of 2027. [7] Tan See Leng, Singapore's energy minister, announced it on Monday at the Singapore International Energy Week conference. [7] He said it would make Saudi oil supplies to South-East Asia more secure and help Singapore if supplies are cut. [7] Saudi Aramco, the state oil company, was due to sign a first agreement the same day. [7]

Why it matters. Attacks on tankers around the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf's main sea exit, rattled oil traders last week. [8] Oil already stored in Singapore does not have to pass through those waters to reach Asian buyers.

Eni, an Italian energy company, signed contracts worth up to 1.8 billion dollars on Monday to develop the Kronos gas field off Cyprus. [6] It works on the field with TotalEnergies, the French energy company. [6] Kronos holds more than 3 trillion cubic feet of gas and could produce up to 500 million cubic feet a day. [6] The gas will be piped to Egypt, turned to liquid at its Damietta plant and shipped mainly to Europe. [6]

Why it matters. It is the first time gas from a Cypriot field will be produced for sale, with the first gas due in the first half of 2028. [6] That is too late for this winter, when Europe's stores are short. [4]

Russian refiners are making more diesel after Russia's government granted export quotas following a supply deal with the US, two industry sources told Reuters. [20] Output fell to about 160,000 tonnes a day in early October, then rose towards 180,000 once the quotas arrived. [20] Russians usually use about 140,000 tonnes a day in October, after the harvest and summer driving. [20] That leaves more than 1 million tonnes a month for export. [20]

Why it matters. A tanker carrying 40,000 tonnes of Russian diesel for New York appeared on tracking systems on 23 October. [20] Dmitry Peskov, the Russian government's spokesman, said shipments to the US would continue regularly. [20]

Documents seen by Reuters show a Myanmar broker signed to buy South African diesel but received Iranian jet fuel in December 2025. [21] The tanker Reef, under US sanctions, carried about 113,000 barrels in a 15.8 million dollar deal. [21] A Myanmar regulator wrote that it would label the cargo diesel instead of jet fuel. [21] The US put sanctions on Myanmar's jet fuel trade in 2023 because its military was bombing civilians. [21]

Why it matters. The payment went to a Thai bank account, and the trade earned Iran foreign currency, Reuters says. [21] The fuel serves both airlines and the military's air raids, which the UN says have killed thousands since the 2021 coup. [21]

The Pentagon, the US defence department, is drawing up a rule that every major base in the mainland US can run on its own for 90 days, Fox News reported. [19] The plan, called FORTRESS, covers power, water, fuel and communications. [19] It foresees small nuclear reactors, large batteries and local grids that can cut loose from the public one. [19] In August the US Army announced up to 2.2 billion dollars for small reactors at five bases. [19]

Why it matters. No cost or timetable has been published, and an official said meeting the goal across about 500 bases could take decades. [19] Britain's Be Ready campaign, launched on 22 October, asks families to keep three days of water, food and cash. [19]

Utility regulators from 11 of the 15 states served by MISO, the grid operator for much of the central US, asked the US grid regulator on Friday to reject its fast-track plan. [23] The plan would study a new user of over 200 megawatts, such as a data centre, together with its power plant within 120 days. [23] Google, the Sierra Club and groups speaking for bill payers say ordinary customers could end up paying for grid upgrades. [23]

Why it matters. MISO plans to set out who pays for these projects next month. [23] Utilities including Duke Energy Indiana and Entergy back the plan, as do Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. [23]

US government scientists estimate that wind turbines killed about 18.7 million bats in the 48 mainland states between 1981 and 2024. [17] Deaths have topped 1.5 million a year since 2021, perhaps because more turbines were built. [17] The team used 499 reports from wind farms. [17] Hoary bats lost the most, about 6.7 million. [17] Eastern red bats lost 5.8 million, silver-haired bats 3.4 million and big brown bats 1.5 million. [17]

Why it matters. Bats eat insects such as moths whose caterpillars damage crops. [17] Earlier research found that stopping turbines when bats are most active, in low winds, cuts deaths with little loss of power. [17]

British ministers are considering rewarding carmakers for vehicle-to-grid kit, which lets an electric car charge when power is cheap and sell some back when it is dear. [18] It is part of a review of the ZEV mandate, the rule that sets how many electric cars carmakers must sell. [18] Each such car could earn a credit letting the maker sell another petrol car without a fine. [18] The consultation closed on Friday. [18]

Why it matters. New AutoMotive, a group that tracks the switch to electric cars, says credits worth about 4,000 pounds each would pay carmakers for kit that costs a few hundred. [18] Neso, Britain's grid operator, says such cars could supply 1.2 gigawatts by 2030. [18]

Energas, a group formed by Pakistan's Lucky Group and QatarEnergy, has given up a plan to build a terminal for liquefied gas at Port Qasim, near Karachi. [22] It blames changes in Pakistan's energy policy and long-unsettled tax and policy questions. [22] Pakistan's own energy study in March 2025 said no new gas terminals were needed for five years. [22] The port says Energas loses its 2 million dollar fee unless it commits by 30 November. [22]

Why it matters. Qatar's gas production was suspended this year after US-Israeli attacks on Iran in February closed the Strait of Hormuz, Dawn reports. [22] Energas has asked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for its fee back. [22]

Indian grids switched off 6,825 gigawatt-hours of wind and solar power in the first half of 2026, a PV Magazine analysis says. [27] That is 4.9% of India's clean power and already 1.8 times the total for all of 2025. [27] Most of the losses are in Rajasthan and Gujarat, two sunny western states where new power lines have lagged. [27] Only 12% of new power lines were finished on time, says ICRA, a ratings agency. [27]

Why it matters. About 107 gigawatts of new clean power is due to connect from 2026 to 2031. [27] Plants allowed to connect before their lines are built get no money when they are switched off. [27]

US developers ordered 2.8 gigawatts of wind turbines in the second quarter, racing to start building before tax credit deadlines on 4 July, says Wood Mackenzie, an energy research firm. [24] The US added about 5 gigawatts of wind on land in the quarter. [24] Most came from SunZia, a 3.65-gigawatt project in New Mexico and the country's largest. [24] Projects that missed the deadline must be running by the end of 2027 to keep the credit. [24]

Why it matters. Offshore wind is limited to 5 gigawatts over the next two years because of Trump administration policy, the report says. [24] The firm still expects 39 gigawatts of new wind on land by 2030. [24]

Massachusetts aims to have 5 gigawatts of batteries on its grid by 2030 and 10 by 2035, the highest target of any US state. [25] A 700-megawatt battery is planned just outside Boston, larger than any other in New England. [25] The state passed its first target of 1 gigawatt by 2025, reaching more than 1.6. [25] A state rule that pays batteries for supplying power at peak times helps projects get loans. [25]

Why it matters. High costs of joining the grid still stop some projects. [25] In September developers cancelled a 125-megawatt battery in Tewksbury after being told the grid upgrades would cost 65 million dollars. [25]

Health and civil society groups asked the 194 member countries of the WHO, the UN health agency, to treat climate disinformation as a threat to public health. [38] Their report says false claims can undermine emergency warnings and delay rules on air pollution. [38] After the 2023 Maui wildfires, a false rumour said victims who applied for aid could lose their land. [38] The report comes from the WHO Civil Society Working Group on Climate and Health. [38]

Why it matters. It says false claims fuelled part of the backlash against ULEZ, London's charge on older, more polluting vehicles. [38] Jeni Miller, who co-chairs the group, wants countries' plans for heat, flood and storm warnings to include ways of answering false claims. [38]

California water agencies are steering heavy rain into basins and onto fields so it soaks into the ground instead of running to the sea, Grist reports. [33] The state's big reservoirs hold about 21 million acre-feet of water, but the ground could hold about a billion, a Berkeley water expert says. [33] In an average year, groundwater supplies about 40% of California's water, and more in a drought. [33]

Why it matters. El Nino years have brought California extraordinary rain before, and this year's is the strongest on record. [33] Water banked underground is not lost to evaporation the way water in a reservoir is. [33]

Renewvia Energy, a solar company in Atlanta, plans solar-and-battery mini-grids for more than 30,000 people in Nigeria's Niger Delta, with a full launch next year. [29] About three in ten Nigerians have no electricity. [29] Separately, the Private Infrastructure Development Group, a lender backed by Western governments, plans about 1 billion dollars a year for Africa and Asia until 2030. [30] Most will go to renewable energy, its chief executive said. [30]

Why it matters. Most of that lender's funders are cutting their aid budgets. [30] The Trump administration also shut Power Africa, a US programme to bring electricity to Africa, leaving a gap in money for clean power. [30]

Citicore Renewable Energy, a Philippine developer, borrowed 552 million dollars from three Philippine banks to build five solar farms in Batangas province. [28] Together they will produce 900 megawatts and carry 120 megawatt-hours of batteries. [28] All five won 20-year contracts in the Philippine government's fourth green energy auction in 2025. [28] It is the company's largest group loan so far. [28]

Why it matters. One lender, Land Bank of the Philippines, is owned by the state. [28] The firm has not said what price it will be paid for the power. [28]

Samsung SDI, a South Korean battery maker, will supply 1 gigawatt-hour of grid batteries to Alpha Omega Power, a US power producer. [26] All the cells and modules will be made at its plant in Kokomo, Indiana. [26] The batteries go to projects in the western US and Texas that start building in 2027. [26] They use a nickel-based chemistry, while most grid batteries use lithium iron phosphate. [26]

Why it matters. The deal comes as the US government weighs more limits on imported power equipment. [26] It brings Samsung SDI's total orders from the company to 1.5 gigawatt-hours. [26]

Sixteen Norwegian groups, led by the renewable industry body Fornybar Norge, wrote to the Storting, Norway's parliament, asking for more support for solar power. [32] They say the industry is far behind the parliament's goal of 8 terawatt-hours of solar power by 2030. [32] The letter blames two tough years of bankruptcies and job losses. [32] It asks for auctions for solar on business roofs and for solar on new large buildings. [32]

Why it matters. Parliament is negotiating the 2027 budget now. [32] The signers include Norway's homeowners' association and its nature conservation association. [32]

The Czech industry ministry proposed moving two extra power-capacity auctions from 2026 to 2027. [31] In these auctions, power plants, batteries and others are paid to stand ready to supply power, starting in November 2030. [31] The European Commission approved the scheme in July, with a budget of 3.1 to 6.2 billion euros paid through charges on bills. [31] Comments are open until 30 October. [31]

Why it matters. In September the Czech ministry had already pushed back an earlier deadline, citing conditions in the market for energy equipment. [31] Contracts can last up to 15 years. [31]