4 Billion Years On

Extreme Weather Events

Live alerts from GDACS grade each flood, storm, drought and wildfire by its likely impact as it unfolds - an early estimate, not a confirmed disaster. EM-DAT records the weather and climate disasters afterwards: every one since 1900 that killed 10 or more people, affected 100 or more, or needed outside help.

Live data

Current State

Period
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1Red1Orange6Green8All
Tracking NowClick for track and forecast

Alerts on the Map

Level
CycloneFloodDroughtWildfire

Events8 Alerts

Source: Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System, GDACS (UN OCHA, UNOSAT and the European Commission), refreshed every half hour; Green wildfire alerts update daily. GDACS alerts are model estimates, given as is - not a substitute for official warnings; always follow local and national authorities (terms of use).

ENSO Tracker 4byo Climate Symphony

Past Alerts

Alerts by Month - the Last 12 Months

Every alert, at every level, by the month it began and by continent - so each region's season shows. Each chart has its own scale.

Wildfires

7,297

Peak: Aug 2026

Floods

634

Peak: Jun 2026

Cyclones

95

Peak: Aug 2026

Droughts

17

Peak: Nov 2025

AsiaAfricaEuropeNorth AmericaSouth AmericaOceaniaAt SeaOtherOctober 2026 (So Far)

Last 12 Months

11Major42Severe7,990Moderate

Major + Severe:1617155

Source: Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System, GDACS.

Alert Archive

Every Major and Severe alert since 2017, and every cyclone of the last 12 months - to look up a past event, or watch years of them on the map.

Since 2017554 Alerts

Source: Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System, GDACS. Starts in 2017, when GDACS's records become complete. Of the Moderate (Green) alerts, only the last 12 months' cyclones are kept.

Global & Local

Alerts & Disasters - Global

GDACS alerts worldwide (the last 30 days, and each year since 2017), and every weather and climate disaster since 1900 in the international disaster database EM-DAT: 10 or more deaths, 100 or more people affected, or a declared emergency or call for international help.

Alerts

Alerts Worldwide - Last 30 Days

Major and Severe Alerts Worldwide, by Type

CyclonesFloodsDroughtsWildfires2026 (Year to Date)Comparable From 2021

Red (Major) and Orange (Severe) GDACS alerts by the year they began - what GDACS issued, not a measure of climate change. What it grades has changed (wildfire alerts from 2021, most droughts in 2018-2020, fewer floods before 2019), so the years aren’t like for like; cyclones are the steadiest record.

Disasters in 2024 · latest full year

Disasters

418

+12% vs 10-yr avg

Deaths

79K

+167% vs 10-yr avg

People Affected

170M

+7% vs 10-yr avg

Damages

$224B

+29% vs 10-yr avg

Disasters Each Year Since 1960, by Type

FloodStorms & CyclonesDroughtWildfireExtreme TemperatureLandslideGlacial Lake OutburstBefore 2000 (Historic, Less Complete)2025 (Provisional)

Trends by Type - Disasters per Year Since 1980 · Figures are the 2015-2024 average

All Weather Disasters

372 per year

Flood

170 per year

Storms & Cyclones

117 per year

Drought

27 per year

Wildfire

15 per year

Extreme Temperature

23 per year

Before 2000 - less complete records2000 onwards10-Year Average2025 (Provisional)

Source: Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT), CRED / UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium, accessed 2026 via Our World in Data, under EM-DAT’s terms of use. 2025 is provisional - EM-DAT keeps adding a year’s disasters for a year or two afterwards. Earthquakes, volcanoes and other geophysical disasters are left out.

Global Climate Update Global Climate History

Hardest Hit

Ten Worst-Affected Countries, 2015-2024

Totals over the last ten complete years. Pick a country to open its record above.

Top 10 by Deaths

Source: Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT), CRED / UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium, via Our World in Data. Europe leads on deaths because EM-DAT counts the heatwave deaths of the 2022-24 summers. Totals favour large countries, and damages (in US dollars) rich ones.

Climate Rankings Climate Map

Is It Climate Change?

Linking Disasters to Warming

How scientists link individual disasters to warming - and how to read the long-term counts.

Attribution Science

Attribution studies compare the climate we have with one without human warming, to measure how much more likely or intense an event became. World Weather Attribution publishes rapid studies of major events, and Carbon Brief’s attribution map gathers hundreds of them in one place. ClimaMeter adds quick analyses of European and global events.

What the IPCC Says

“Human-induced climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe. Evidence of observed changes in extremes such as heatwaves, heavy precipitation, droughts, and tropical cyclones, and, in particular, their attribution to human influence, has strengthened since AR5” [IPCC AR6, 2021].

More Disasters, or Better Reporting?

Recorded disasters rose steeply from the 1960s to the 2000s, but much of that rise is better reporting - more countries, better communications, more aid agencies logging events. Our World in Data warns the historical increase “largely reflects improvements in data reporting”. Compare recent decades with each other, not with the 1960s.

Reading the Damage Figures

Damages are in US dollars of the day, not adjusted for inflation, and they follow wealth: a storm hitting a rich coast costs more than the same storm hitting a poor one. Deaths, meanwhile, have fallen sharply since the mid-20th century as forecasts and warnings improved, even as some hazards grew more intense.

Climate Change Explained Heatwave Days

FAQs

Extreme Weather - Common Questions

What does the extreme weather page show?

Live alerts for cyclones, floods, droughts and wildfires - over the last month, three months or year - an archive of every Red and Orange alert since 2017, with a map that plays them back month by month, and the long-term record of every major weather and climate disaster since 1900 - for the world, each continent and each country - with the deaths, people affected and economic damage each caused. Choose a place to see its own history, and compare the hardest-hit countries.

What counts as an extreme weather disaster?

The long-term record uses the international disaster database EM-DAT, which lists an event when it kills 10 or more people, affects 100 or more, or leads to a declared emergency or a call for international help. It covers floods, storms and cyclones, droughts, wildfires, heatwaves and cold waves, landslides and glacial lake outburst floods. Earthquakes and volcanoes are left out because they are not weather or climate events.

Is there a record for each US state?

Yes. EM-DAT records disasters by country, so for each US state and climate region the page uses NOAA's Storm Events Database, the National Weather Service's official record of storms and other weather that caused deaths, injuries or damage. It shows the damaging events each year since 1996 (those that killed or injured anyone or did $1M or more of damage) by type - tornadoes, hurricanes, thunderstorms, floods, winter storms, heat, drought and wildfires - with the deaths, injuries and damage, and each state's deadliest and costliest storms. Live alerts are placed in the states they touch from each alert's own area or track, and UK nations and regions work the same way.

Is every alert a disaster?

No. GDACS grades each event as it unfolds by its likely impact, "with a focus on the need for international humanitarian support": Green is a "moderate event with potential or minor impacts, but unlikely to require international humanitarian aid"; Orange a "severe event with potential serious impacts, so that some degree of international humanitarian assistance may be needed"; and Red a "major event with heavy impacts, and possibly resulting in a humanitarian crisis". These are early estimates - GDACS notes its grading "cannot always predict the severity of humanitarian impacts". On this page a disaster is an event EM-DAT records afterwards: 10 or more deaths, 100 or more people affected, or a declared emergency or call for international help.

What do the Red, Orange and Green alerts mean?

They are GDACS alert levels, set from an event's strength and how many people and how much infrastructure lie in its path. In GDACS's own terms, Red is a major event where international assistance is likely to be needed, Orange a severe event where some international help may be needed, and Green a moderate event unlikely to need international aid. Green alerts are numerous - wildfires especially - so on the map nearby ones are grouped, with a count.

Does the map show cyclone tracks and forecasts?

Yes. Choose Cyclones, or tap any cyclone, to see its track: a solid line for the path it has taken, thicker where the storm was stronger (depression, tropical storm, hurricane or typhoon), and for a storm still under way a dashed line for its forecast path. Live view lists every cyclone being tracked right now. Tracks come from GDACS, which draws on the official warning centres such as NOAA's National Hurricane Center and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, and update as new advisories are issued. They are not official warnings - always follow your national weather service.

Can I look up a past storm or alert?

Yes. The Alert Archive lists every Red and Orange GDACS alert since 2017 - cyclones, floods, droughts and wildfires - and every cyclone of the last 12 months, one row each. Search by name, place or year (such as "Melissa" or "flood Pakistan"), filter by year, type and level, and open a row for its strength, the places it hit and its GDACS report. Its map shows any selection and plays it back week by week for one year, or month by month across several. It starts in 2017 because GDACS's records are complete from then; earlier years are patchy. Moderate (Green) alerts number in the thousands each year, mostly small wildfires, so only the last 12 months of Green cyclones are kept.

Why are there no heatwave alerts on the map?

GDACS issues alerts for tropical cyclones, floods, droughts and wildfires (and earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes), but not for heatwaves, cold waves, landslides or glacial lake outburst floods. Those appear only in the long-term EM-DAT record, under extreme temperature (heatwaves and cold waves), landslides and glacial lake outbursts. For heatwaves by country and year, see the Heatwave Days page.

Why are most Orange and Red wildfire alerts in Europe?

GDACS raises a Green wildfire alert automatically for any fire over 5,000 hectares mapped by satellite. Orange and Red are set by expert assessment, only where a fire hits people and buildings, and Orange is also given when the EU Civil Protection Mechanism is called in. So the vast fires of Australia, Canada, Siberia and Africa's savannas mostly stay Green, while smaller fires near homes in Europe are raised higher. The map shows every Green wildfire too, so the global picture is not lost.

Are extreme weather disasters becoming more common?

Recorded disasters rose sharply from the 1960s to the 2000s, but much of that rise reflects better reporting rather than more events, so long-run counts should be read with care - recent decades are the fairest comparison. The IPCC finds that human-induced climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region, including heatwaves, heavy rainfall, droughts and tropical cyclones. Deaths have fallen a long way since the mid-20th century thanks to forecasts and warnings.

Where does the extreme weather data come from?

Live alerts come from GDACS, the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System run by UN OCHA and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. The long-term record is EM-DAT, maintained by CRED at UCLouvain, presented through Our World in Data.

How often is this page updated?

Live alerts refresh every half hour, and the Alert Archive daily. The EM-DAT record is rebuilt daily from Our World in Data, which updates it about once a year; the most recent year stays provisional for a year or two while EM-DAT adds late-reported disasters.

Was a particular disaster caused by climate change?

Attribution studies answer that event by event, measuring how much more likely or intense climate change made it. See World Weather Attribution (worldweatherattribution.org), Carbon Brief's attribution map, which gathers hundreds of studies, and ClimaMeter (climameter.org).