The storm that hit central Europe — which unleashed several months’ worth of rain in just a few days — was spawned by a rare combination of meteorological factors.

At least eight people have died after some of the heaviest rain in years hit central and eastern Europe, causing flooding and widespread disruption.

As our colleagues in BBC Weather point out, climate scientists have been warning us for years about extreme rainfall events like these as the planet warms. Heavy rain is expected over much of Italy over the next few days, with the regions of Emilia-Romagna and Lazio under yellow weather alerts.