Sri Lanka braced for more damage after torrential rain kills hundreds across Asia

More heavy rainfall is expected in Sri Lanka in the coming days, likely resulting in further damage across the country. It comes after torrential rainfall in south-east Asia triggered catastrophic flash floods and landslides that have affected millions, killing more than 300 people in Indonesia and 160 in Thailand, with hundreds more still missing.Parts of North Sumatra, Indonesia, were hit with rainfall totals of 800mm over four days, with other areas also experiencing heavy rainfall.The extreme weather has been associated with a rare cluster of tropical cyclones affecting swaths of southern Asia.Cyclone Senyar, part of the cluster, hit Indonesia and Thailand. Cyclone Ditwah, part of the same cluster, has led to severe rainfall and floods in Sri Lanka, where death tolls neared 200 on Sunday, with hundreds more missing.The extreme weather across much of south and south-east Asia has resulted in more than 1,300 deaths, with this number likely to rise over the coming days. Millions more have been affected by devastating floods and landslides.Elsewhere in Asia, Iran has been grappling with one of the harshest droughts since records began almost 60 years ago. After a sixth consecutive year of drought conditions, authorities were forced to stop electricity production at the Karkheh dam hydroelectric power station on Saturday because of critically low water levels. Drought conditions have also prompted the government to reduce water pressure, which has been particularly challenging for the residents of the capital, Tehran.Snow shrouds Lake Michigan in Chicago on Saturday. Photograph: Kiichiro Sato/APMeanwhile, winter has returned with a vengeance across much of the US, with more snow and low temperatures forecast. Parts of Michigan could face 1ft of snow this weekend, as widespread snow blankets many parts of the north-east of the country over the next few days. Temperatures will widely be 10C (18F)below normal across much of the midwest and eastern areas this week.The severe disruption to Thanksgiving travel in parts of the Great Lakes region has been due to “lake effect” snow, where cold air from Canada blows over the comparatively warmer Great Lakes, which results in the movement of moisture upwards through the atmosphere to produce bands of clouds that produce heavy snowfall downwind. The effect is most pronounced in states such as Ohio, New York, Illinois and Michigan.