Severe winter weather struck southeastern Europe, with extreme cold and snow in Italy, the Balkans and Turkey. This caused many accidents on roads, school closures, and cancelled flights. The Danube river and Bosporus sea strait were closed for shipping.
Torrential rainfall ravaged parts of central and northeastern France and southern Germany, forcing the evacuation of thousands — some in kayaks and canoes.
A fierce Atlantic storm, Desmond, struck parts of northern England, southern Scotland and Ireland the first weekend in December 2015, with a new national record for rainfall accumulation in a 24-hour period.
A team of international scientists says that it is virtually certain that the heatwave that stretched across much of Europe in early July was more likely to happen now than in the past due to climate change.