GLOBAL WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS

FEBRUARY 2026

CENTRAL AMERICA

In Emilio Peña Delgado’s home, several photos hang on the wall. One shows him standing in front of a statue with his wife and oldest son in the center of San José, smiling. In another, his two sons sit in front of caricatures from the film Cars. For him, the photos capture moments of joy that feel distant when he returns home to La Carpio, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Costa Rica’s capital.  Delgado migrated with his family from Nicaragua to Costa Rica when he was 10, as his parents sought greater stability. When he started a family of his own, his greatest hope was to give his children the security he had lacked. But now, that hope is often interrupted by the threat of extreme weather events. His community in La Carpio, most of whom have Nicaraguan roots, live squeezed between the unstable banks of the Río Torres and a steep hillside. Each time it rains, they face a double risk: the river swelling on one side and potential landslides on the other. Despite official reports deeming the area uninhabitable, government action has stalled.

UNITED STATES

The US continues to be at the mercy of freezing temperatures across much of the country, stretching from the northeast all the way into the south and putting approximately 150 million people under cold weather advisories and extreme cold warnings. Florida’s uncharacteristic cold snap has led to some rare sightings: snowflakes and falling iguanas. In Miami and Orlando, the lows dropped to 35F (1.7 °C) and 24F (-4.4 °C), respectively, undoubtedly disappointing the vacationers who sought to go to the Sunshine State to escape the freezing temperatures on the East Coast. More stunned than the Florida tourists, however, were the iguanas: in temperatures this low, the cold-blooded reptiles become paralyzed and drop from the trees. Though it is upsetting to witness, wildlife officials noted that the iguanas were not dead and would regain mobility once temperatures rise again. Due to the unusually cold conditions, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has been allowing residents to capture and transport the non-native reptiles to five designated FWC offices over the weekend. One FWC office based in Sunrise, Florida, received more than 1000 iguanas on Sunday. A bomb cyclone, classified by meteorologists as an intense, rapidly strengthening weather system, contributed to heavy snow across the south, including nearly 1ft (30cm) in and around Charlotte, North Carolina’s largest city. The National Weather Service office for Raleigh warned that wind chills will drop early Monday to near 0F. “Snow and ice will linger, with refreezing tonight making travel hazardous,” the office said on Sunday on social media. “Use caution on roads and dress in warm layers.” More than 110 deaths connected to the wintry weather and storms have been reported around the US since late January. In Tennessee and Mississippi, two states struck by a previous storm carrying snow and ice, almost 80,000 customers were still without electricity on Monday morning, according to the outage tracking website poweroutage.us.

A record snow drought is plaguing the western US, leaving some of the thirstiest states bracing for less water and elevated fire risks through the drier months to come. Snow cover is roughly a third of what it typically is for this time of year across the west, according to measurements from the National Snow and Ice Data Center, prompting widespread concern among experts and water managers that several key basins will be severely affected through the rest of the year. Oregon, Colorado , and Utah have all reported their lowest statewide snowpack since the early 1980s, as far back as records go. “The snowpack is essentially as bad as it’s ever been in recorded history for the time of year in at least some portion of every single western US state,” climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a weather and conditions discussion shared to his website last week, calling the record-breaking warmth that preceded it “astonishing”.

EUROPE

With 76 flood warnings still in force across the UK and further downpours forecast this week and next, parts of the country have endured rain almost without pause since the start of the year. The prolonged wet weather is disrupting livelihoods as well as daily life, particularly in rural areas, where flooded roads, waterlogged ground, and repeated storms are making it harder to keep businesses afloat, protect crops, and maintain steady work.  In north Devon, Mark Harrington, a master thatcher, has been inundated with calls from customers with leaking roofs in recent months. “This is silly season for us thatchers,” he says. Harrington, 61, has been fixing thatched roofs for 30 years. “I do understand that you’re going to get some rain in winter, but it has definitely gotten worse. Even if you do manage to work for a day, it’s punctuated by periods of an hour and a half of rain where you’re sitting in your truck doing nothing. Before, I used to think, a day off, that’s great. But now you think, oh, jeez, not another day off!”

The Iberian Peninsula has been placed under severe weather alerts as Storm Leonardo continues to batter parts of Spain and Portugal with torrential rain and strong winds. Since Tuesday, the slow-moving system has brought widespread disruption, flooding, and evacuations. In Grazalema, in southern Spain, more than 700mm of rain has fallen since Wednesday, roughly equivalent to the country’s average annual rainfall. Across Andalucía, about 3,500 people have been evacuated, with roads and schools closed, and transport networks disrupted. Spain’s state meteorological agency, Aemet, issued its highest red alert for heavy rainfall in Cádiz and parts of Málaga, where around 150mm was recorded in only 12 hours on Thursday.

While the days are growing longer and meteorological spring is just a couple of weeks away, Romania remains firmly in the grip of winter.  A powerful storm brought blizzards and heavy snowfall across much of the south-east of the country, with the capital, Bucharest, receiving 40cm of snow – far exceeding the February average of 11cm. Public transport was severely disrupted: international airports closed, and trains were delayed by up to six hours. Motorway traffic was also disrupted, and several main routes into Bucharest were shut because of snow. The situation was exacerbated as hundreds of trees and numerous power lines collapsed under the weight of the snowfall, leaving about 200,000 households without electricity.

TROPICAL

At least three people have died, and nearly 30,000 people have been affected by flooding after Madagascar’s first tropical storm of the season hit over the weekend. Tropical Cyclone Fytia formed to the north-west of Madagascar over the northern Mozambique Channel on Thursday. Fytia was forecast to bring daily rainfall totals of about 150mm where rain is heaviest, leading to a risk of flooding and landslides. Travel disruption and school closures are likely, and it is estimated that more than 40,000 homes could be flooded over the next few days. Red alerts were issued in regions in the track of the cyclone, indicating imminent danger, and mariners have been advised to seek shelter. According to a provisional report from Madagascar’s national bureau for disaster risk management, at least three people have died, and 28,368 people have been affected by flooding. Fytia moved south-east through northern and central Madagascar on Saturday, bringing heavy rainfall, strong winds and rough sea conditions. Average wind speeds of more than 90mph have been recorded, along with gusts of up to 130mph as of Saturday, according to Météo Madagascar. As Fytia continued to move across Madagascar, it weakened into a tropical storm, though disruption will continue this week.  Meanwhile, Eastern Europe has been extremely cold for much of the winter so far. However, it will turn even colder this week, with temperatures across Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus set to plunge further. The latest forecast models are predicting daytime highs firmly within the negative double digits, as far west as Berlin. Yet it is the night-time lows that will be the most extreme, potentially dropping below -30C this week across Poland, Belarus and Ukraine. The cold air will be driven by high pressure centred to the north over eastern Scandinavia and low pressure to the south, centred over western Russia. This will lead to an easterly to north-easterly flow, introducing a very cold air mass to the region. The brutal cold is being driven partly by the cold airmass, but also by the existing snow cover on the ground across eastern Europe. The snow has been reflecting incoming solar radiation for several weeks. In tandem with the solar radiation, snow emits longwave radiation into the atmosphere, cooling the air directly above. Both these processes are working together, enabling temperatures to plummet across the entirety of eastern Europe.

Tropical Cyclone Mitchell hit the coast of Western Australia last week. It initially developed as a weak tropical low over the Northern Territory in early February, then tracked over Western Australia’s Kimberley region and eventually reached the Indian Ocean. Fueled by warm waters, Mitchell intensified into a tropical cyclone and moved south-west, hugging the coast of Western Australia and eventually deepening to a category three storm. Affected coastal regions experienced destructive winds, abnormally high tides, and heavy rainfall last weekend. Mitchell eventually made landfall in westernmost Western Australia, weakening back to a tropical low. Lingering moisture from Mitchell fueled further stormy weather across southern Western Australia on Monday, bringing heavy rain and wind damage to farms and businesses.