On Friday night, an area of low pressure moved into the Bay of Biscay from the north Atlantic Ocean. The low shifted southwards, clipping the north coast of the Iberian peninsula before propagating eastwards and into France by Sunday evening. This brought unsettled conditions across southern and western parts of Europe.
Portugal received the brunt of these, with heavy rain, outbreaks of snow and strong winds causing blustery conditions across the country as well as some big waves to the west coast. Waves came from the west and north-west, with wave heights of 6-8 metres (20-26ft) generally observed, and waves of up to 10 metres observed at Praia do Norte, Nazaré, which is known for having waves of such size and larger.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Central America has been experiencing some reacord-breaking heat for the beginning of March. Costa Rica had a maximum air temperature of 41C (106F) on 6 March at Cerro Huacalito, potentially breaking the record for the highest national temperature for any month due to disputes over the previous record from the 1960s.
Regardless, these hot conditions are expected to ease over the coming week in juxtaposition with a heatwave developing in South America. Paraguay and the far northern parts of Argentina will be most affected with humid conditions, with the potential for maximum temperatures of 40-44C and minimum temperatures of 30-34C overnight. Temperature records are likely to be broken.
Tropical Storm Filipo will make landfall on the coast of Mozambique in the early hours of Tuesday morning, with the potential for sustained winds of more than 50mph (80km/h) and gusts of up to 75mph. The tropical depression initially developed to the north of Madagascar last weekend, but weakened as it passed westwards over the northern tip of the island. The remnants of the system then tracked southwards into the Mozambique Channel, where it eventually reintensified and began moving towards Mozambique.
Filipo could further intensify to severe tropical storm status before hitting central Mozambique. Filipo is expected to linger over southern Mozambique until Wednesday, before veering back out into the Indian Ocean. Heavy rain is expected throughout, and some areas could receive more than 200mm by the end of Wednesday.