UPDATE – UK HEATWAVE LEVEL 4 RED ALERT ISSUED ON 15th July 2022
UK HEATWAVE RED ALERT
Courtesy of the Met Office
UK HEATWAVE LEVEL 4 RED ALERT ISSUED
BE ALERT
Red Alert has been issued by the Met Office for south-east and eastern coastal districts of Scotland and north-east England
Red Alert has been issued by the Met Office for south-east and eastern coastal districts of Scotland and north-east England
Courtesy of Met Office
Volcanic Alert Level Raised to Red – New eruption at Kilauea Volcano in Halemaumau Crater, Hawaii, USA
A rapid rise of seismic activity and vertical deformation has been detected by the volcano observatory Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) as of noon today which is a sign that magma has been continued to intrude and pushed its way into deeper rock layers.
Onset of a new eruption started at the volcano in the afternoon of 29 September at about 15:20 local time as the observatory detected a glow in the Kilauea summit crater.
New eruptive fissures opened at approx. 15:21 local time at the bottom of the Halemaumau crater. These fissures opened east of the large island near the center of the lava lake. The opening of the vents was accompanied by low lava fountains and feeding new lava flows.
At about 16:43 local time, another vent opened on the west wall of the crater.
Gas and steam emissions continue at elevated levels.
Therefore, the alert level for the volcano was raised to red.
Courtesy of volcanodiscovery.com
Red alert flood warning for River Severn issued, UK
River levels in Gloucestershire are rising after heavy rainfall – with more wet weather to come.
The Environment Agency has issued a Flood Warning and Flood Alerts for parts of the Severn and Wye as tidal surges and strong winds combine with rain to cause flooding.
There were reports this afternoon of flooding on the A40 at Highnham, around Two Mile Lane.
This evening, a red Flood Warning was issued for the River Severn at Severn Ham, Tewkesbury.
A Flood Warning has also been issued for the River Wye from Hereford to Ross-on-Wye.
Incident response staff have been deployed along the River Severn in Gloucestershire to check defences as people are urged to avoid using low lying footpaths near watercourses.
On the Severn Estuary, from Gloucester down to Sharpness, the tidal surge with high spring tides and strong winds is expected to overtop sea defences.
Just across the Herefordshire border in Ross-on-Wye, heavy rainfall has seen river levels on Wye rise and flooding of roads and farmland is expected to continue.
The Met Office has put severe weather warnings on parts of the South West and Wales, although none of the warning zones cover Gloucestershire at present.
Courtesy of gloucestershirelive.co.uk
Red alert issued for Northern Sri Lanka as Cyclone Nivar approaches
A red alert has been issued for Northern Sri Lanka as Cyclone Nivar approaches.
The Department of Meteorology said that 100-150mm of rain can be expected at several places in the North on Tuesday and Wednesday while over 150mm of rain can be expected at isolated areas.
Navel and fishing communities have been warned not to venture into sea areas extending from Puttalam to Pottuvill via Mannar, Kankasanthurai, Trincomalee and Batticaloa.
Those who are out at the aforementioned sea areas have been advised to return to coast or move to safer areas immediately.
Naval and fishing communities have been request to be vigilant during in the sea areas extending from Puttalam to Matara via Colombo.
Meanwhile, the Indian media reported that a low-pressure belt forming over the Bay of Bengal is expected to turn into a cyclonic storm over the next couple of days bringing heavy to extremely heavy rainfall to parts of Tamil Nadu.
The cyclone has been named Nivar and is steering itself towards the northern Tamil Nadu coast.
Courtesy of colombogazette.com
35,700 birds killed due to Bird Flu in the Netherlands. EU on Red Alert
The detection of several cases of avian influenza in the Netherlands has set the EU on red alert for the possibility of spread elsewhere, leaving the country itself on ‘high alert’ and preparing a mass culling of animals.
Avian influenza is a highly contagious viral disease which occurs primarily in poultry and wild water birds. There are two strains of the virus; high or low pathogenic viruses, known as HPAI and LPAI, respectively.
According to media reports, it is this highly pathogenic strain of avian flu that was diagnosed at a poultry farm in the Netherlands on Thursday (29 October).
The diagnosis comes after the discovery of the virus in two wild mute swans last week.
A mass culling of 35,700 animals is now to be carried out by the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority in an attempt to prevent the spread of the virus, according to a statement on the government website.
The statement adds that there are nine other poultry farms in the immediate vicinity of the farm, which are currently undergoing sampling and examination for avian flu.
In addition, there are also 25 other poultry farms in the 10-km zone around the farm, and that transport ban has been applied to this zone.
The risk for Dutch commercial poultry farming of becoming infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has now been rated as high, especially in areas with many wild waterfowl, according to an analysis by Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (WBVR) this month.
Birthe Steenburg, secretary-general of AVEC, the voice of the EU’s poultry sector, told EURACTIV that this outbreak could have serious repercussions for trade.
“When highly pathogenic avian flu is found in a country, many third-country markets shut down for poultry meat,” she said, adding that the Netherlands is a large producer of poultry meat.
This is because of the bilateral agreement that member states have with third countries, which requires a veterinary certificate confirming the country of origin is free from avian influenza.
However, in accordance with EU laws, trade is still possible within the EU, provided that the meat comes from an area outside of a 10km radius of the outbreak.
She added that everyone is now on very high alert to the possibility of the spread of the virus.
In response to the news, a number of EU countries have issued statements over the risk and have started putting preventative measures in place.
In the UK, the avian influenza risk has been raised to medium by the department of environment and rural affairs (DEFRA), while Ireland and France have also sounded the alarm.
This is due to the fact that, at this time of year, wild birds that can carry avian influenza viruses traditionally migrate along the East Atlantic flyway from colder parts of Northern and Eastern Europe to Western European countries including Ireland.
As such, Ireland’s Agriculture Minister, Charlie McConalogue, has emphasised the need to review biosecurity practises as we now move into a higher risk period for the bird flu.
France too has upped their surveillance and preventative measures in response to the news over fears it could spread.
The 2016/2017 epidemic of HPAI was the largest recorded outbreak to date in the EU in terms of the number of poultry outbreaks, geographical spread and number of dead wild birds.
There is no evidence to suggest that avian influenza can be transmitted to humans through the consumption of contaminated poultry products.
Courtesy of euractiv.com
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