Russia's Urals hit by worst rainfall in 40 years, forcing evacuations

Russia's Ural region has experienced its heaviest rainfall in four decades, triggering widespread flooding across the Sverdlovsk region and forcing the evacuation of more than 400 people, according to local reports.

The Telegram channel Baza reported that rainfall has persisted almost continuously since the beginning of June, with precipitation levels exceeding the previous regional record set in 1986 by the end of the month.

Meteorologists attributed the extreme weather to a combination of atmospheric systems.

"A barometric trough has settled over the Middle Urals. An upper-level cyclone merged with an Atlantic cyclone system moving in from the Baltic, forming powerful rain clouds," the report said.

Flooding has been recorded in 28 municipalities across the Sverdlovsk region. The hardest-hit areas include Polevskoy, Serov, the Verkh-Neyvinsky urban district, Irbit and the Irbit district, Kushva district, Pervouralsk, Bilimbay, the Shalya district, Nizhniye Sergi, Revda and Sloboda.

In Kamensk-Uralsky, the city's only maternity hospital was inundated after heavy rainfall, highlighting the strain on local infrastructure.

Regional authorities have opened eight temporary accommodation centres, where 86 people, including 27 children, are currently being housed. More than 400 residents have been evacuated from flooded communities as emergency services continue to respond to the severe weather.