Increasingly severe rainstorms pose growing risk for people and structures build in the floodplains

A study by World Weather Attribution on the impact of nine named storms in the western Mediterranean, finding that while evidence is uncertain, there is a trend toward increased intensity of extreme heavy rainfall events, particularly in northern regions, exacerbated by urban development in floodplains.

• Since 16 January, nine named storms impacted the western Mediterranean, causing significant casualties and economic damage: Morocco saw 43 deaths and 300,000 displaced people; Portugal recorded six fatalities and one million people without electricity; and Spain saw over 12,400 evacuations.
• Observational data since 1950 indicates an increase in the intensity of 1-day maximum rainfall (Rx1day) by approximately 36% in the southern region (Southern Portugal/Southwest Spain and Northern Morocco) and 29% in the northern region (Northern Portugal/Northwest Spain).
• Climate model simulations show a combined increase in rainfall intensity of about 11% in the northern region, though models failed to reproduce the observed intensity trend in the southern region.
• High levels of exposure were driven by tourism-driven urban expansion into floodplains and the presence of informal settlements in Morocco with limited infrastructure and housing quality.
• While evidence is characterized as highly uncertain, the findings suggest an overall increase in the intensity of the most extreme heavy rainfall events.

APA

World Weather Attribution (2026). Increasingly severe rainstorms pose growing risk for people and structures build in the floodplains. https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/increasingly-severe-rainstorms-pose-growing-risk-for-people-and-structures-build-in-the-floodplains/

Chicago

World Weather Attribution. Increasingly severe rainstorms pose growing risk for people and structures build in the floodplains. 2026. https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/increasingly-severe-rainstorms-pose-growing-risk-for-people-and-structures-build-in-the-floodplains/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Weather Attribution |title=Increasingly severe rainstorms pose growing risk for people and structures build in the floodplains |date=26 February 2026 |url=https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/increasingly-severe-rainstorms-pose-growing-risk-for-people-and-structures-build-in-the-floodplains/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldweatherattribution2026increasingly, author = {{World Weather Attribution}}, title = {{Increasingly severe rainstorms pose growing risk for people and structures build in the floodplains}}, institution = {World Weather Attribution}, year = {2026}, month = feb, url = {https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/increasingly-severe-rainstorms-pose-growing-risk-for-people-and-structures-build-in-the-floodplains/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }