After years of drought the short rainy season (October to December, OND) in the Horn of Africa brought exceptionally heavy rains, particularly in November, leading to severe flooding in the South of Ethiopia, Eastern Kenya and many regions in southern and central Somalia.
Madagascar, in particular the most populated region around the capital of Antananarivo experienced in 2023 its hottest October ever, breaking many high and low temperature records.
During the first two weeks of September 2023 torrential rain fell in several countries across the Mediterranean, caused by low-pressure systems forming around a blocking high centred over the Netherlands.
At the beginning of May severe flooding around Lake Kivu devastated communities in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Flooding and landslides led to at least 595 fatalities with 460 reported deaths in the DRC and 135 in Rwanda.
A large area of South Western Europe and Northern Africa experienced extremely high temperatures usually only seen in July and August, at the end of April 2023.