Five years on, Rupert Cornwell looks back on the hurricane and floods that shamed America

Niwa is hoping its new $12.7m computer will yield more accurate rainfall predictions.

Britain's TV weatherman was caught on camera delivering a one-fingered salute to the BBC news anchor.

Waterlogged North Island areas won't get an immediate reprieve as forecasters warn of more "wet events".

As rising floodwaters threatened to wash away his home of four years all Peter Brake could do was wait, watch and hope for the best.

Bay of Plenty flood levels are dropping, but 15 people have been evacuated from their Whakatane homes.

The eastern Bay of Plenty town of Opotiki remains isolated this morning.

Swollen Bay of Plenty rivers could burst their banks tonight as the rain-battered region braces for more surface flooding.

Central Punjab, Pakistan's fertile agricultural belt, is now besieged by unprecedented floods.

Bay of Plenty Civil Defence officials are on flood alert, urging people to be prepared for heavy rain during the weekend.

Icy weather and strong gales continued to batter several parts of the country yesterday, with heavy snowfall in a number of regions.

A freak tornado has ripped off a shed roof, flinging it almost 100m, while leaving almost everything else untouched.

A new low developing in the Tasman Sea will bring on another wet weekend providing south easterlies that carry miserable, grey weather and snow for the South, writes Philip Duncan.

Peru has declared a state of emergency after hundreds of children died when temperatures fell below -24C in 16 of the country's 25 regions.