Typhoon Champi declared strongest storm of year so far

One dead and 527 injured as winds of up to 185mph hit Taiwan and southern Japan, while Greece issues flood alerts

Typhoon Champi was declared the strongest storm of the year so far after recording sustained winds of 185mph last week. From late Thursday to early Saturday morning the typhoon battered Taiwan and Japan’s southern islands. Champi approached the east coast of Taiwan before the centre of the storm turned south along the Yilan County coastline, looping offshore and then tracking northwards away from the island. The storm brought gusts of up to 141mph and 48-hour rainfall totals of more than 620mm to parts of Yilan.

So far, the death toll remains at one, with 527 reported injured. There were widespread power outages, with more than 288,000 houses having no electricity at one point, although most had since been reconnected. Champi has been downgraded to a tropical storm as it rapidly weakens to the south-west of Japan’s mainland on Monday.

For the fourth time in October, parts of Greece are at risk of flooding. In the early part of this week, low pressure will bring severe thunderstorms and longer spells of heavy rain to much of the country, followed by a deep area of low pressure passing across southern areas.

The national meteorological agency issued warnings for Monday, with 30mm-60mm of rain forecast in a 12-hour period across central areas, and50mm-80mm in the north-east Aegean Islands. Forecast models indicate the potential for similar totals in a 12-hour period between Wednesday and Thursday, making further flooding possible.

A low-pressure system developed into a cyclonic storm over the west-central Bay of Bengal this weekend. Cyclone Arnab is expected to move towards the north Andhra Pradesh-south Odisha coast by Wednesday. The India meteorological department has alerts in place for extreme heavy rain, thunderstorms and strong surface winds across the eastern side of the country.

Models are forecasting gusts of up to 85mph, and up to 100mm, six-hourly rainfall totals as the storm makes landfall, currently expected on Wednesday. From then, the system is set to drift further north before gradually dying out over north-east India at the end of the week.