Emergency crews in Kosovo have been carrying out dramatic rescues after prolonged and intense rainfall triggered severe flooding across the country, trapping people in their homes and cutting off essential supplies.
Widespread Flooding and Dramatic Rescues
Firefighters were forced to intervene in the village of Kuzmin, where they rescued an entire family from a flooded house. The incident was captured in photographs that show the scale of the emergency facing communities.
The situation has left numerous areas isolated, with rivers bursting their banks and inundating cities, towns, and villages. The crisis has been compounded by significant infrastructure damage.
Critical Infrastructure Failures and Record Rainfall
Water and electricity supplies were lost in the Drenas, Malisheva, and Rahovec municipalities after floodwaters infiltrated electrical substations. This has created a dual crisis for residents, dealing with both inundation and a lack of basic utilities.
Personal weather stations in the country's south-west recorded more than 50mm of rain within 24 hours on Tuesday and Wednesday. The municipality of Malisheva was particularly hard-hit, with some local stations registering approximately 80mm in that period.
This deluge followed an earlier period of heavy rain from Saturday to Monday. Official weather stations at Junik and Gllogjan in western Kosovo saw staggering totals of 231.5mm and 151.6mm of rain respectively within just two days. A further 130mm fell in the Junik region on Tuesday, worsening the flooding and triggering dangerous landslides.
Storm Goretti Brings Chaos to Western Europe
While Kosovo deals with flooding, western Europe has been battered by Storm Goretti. The UK Met Office issued a red warning for severe winds from 4pm to 11pm on Thursday across Cornwall and the Scilly Isles.
The far south-west of England experienced extreme wind gusts close to 100mph. However, the storm, named by Meteo-France, delivered its most destructive force to north-western France. Forecasters predicted gusts above 80mph, with 132mph recorded in Normandy and 94mph in Brittany overnight. Even inland areas like Paris felt the storm's strength, with gusts reaching 65mph.
Coastal flood warnings were activated in north-western France, with the northern coasts of Brittany bracing for waves of 6-9 metres and storm surges of 1.5 metres at high tide.
Storm Goretti is expected to track east into mainland Europe over the weekend. While the severe winds will ease, it brings a new threat: blizzard conditions and significant snow across Germany and the Benelux region.
