Climate change made extreme floods in Germany and Belgium more likely

By Layal Liverpool

The weather events that are thought to have contributed to extreme floods in western Europe are becoming more likely due to climate change, according to climate and meteorology researchers.

A combination of extremely heavy rainfall and a slow-moving storm front most likely contributed to the flooding, which has killed at least 120 people in Germany and Belgium, and has also affected the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland. “It’s come from very moist air in the atmosphere wrapping around an almost stationary front,” says Hayley Fowler at …