Pakistan records its wettest April since 1961 - experts say climate change is to blame

Youngsters wade through a flooded street caused by heavy rain in Peshawar, Pakistan in April

Pakistan has recorded its wettest April since 1961, with more than double the usual rainfall for the month, the country’s national weather centre has announced.

The Asian nation experienced days of extreme weather in April that killed scores of people as well as destroying property and farmland.

Experts said Pakistan witnessed heavier rains because of climate change.

Last month’s rainfall for Pakistan was a 164 per cent increase from the usual level for April, Pakistan’s national weather centre says.

The intense downpours affected the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southwestern Balochistan provinces the most.

Flash floods also killed dozens of people in neighbouring Afghanistan.

In Pakistan, most of the deaths were reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in mid-April. Collapsing buildings killed at least 32 people, including 15 children and five women, the Disaster Management Authority said. Dozens more were also injured in the region, where 1,370 houses were damaged.

The eastern province of Punjab also reported 21 lightning-and collapse-related deaths, while Balochistan reported 10 dead as authorities declared a state of emergency following flash floods.

Devastating summer floods in 2022 killed at least 1,700 people, destroyed millions of homes, wiped out swaths of farmland, and caused billions in economic losses in a matter of months.

At one point, a third of the country was underwater. Pakistani leaders and many scientists worldwide blamed climate change for the unusually early and heavy monsoon rains.