Global Edition

Regional temperature records broken across the world in 2025

BY VALENTIN RAKOVSKY

  • Northern Europe was largely spared the heatwave that hit Europe at the end of June but it instead experienced an abnormally warm autumn.
  • Central Asia, the Sahel region and northern Europe experienced their hottest year on record in 2025, according to AFP analysis based on data from the European Copernicus programme.
  • Northern Europe was largely spared the heatwave that hit Europe at the end of June but it instead experienced an abnormally warm autumn.
Central Asia, the Sahel region and northern Europe experienced their hottest year on record in 2025, according to AFP analysis based on data from the European Copernicus programme.
Globally, the last 12 months are expected to be the third hottest ever recorded after 2024 and 2023, according to the provisional data, which will be confirmed by Copernicus in its annual report in early January. 
But the average, which includes land and oceans, masks overall records for certain parts of the world.
Many poorer nations do not publish detailed climate data, so AFP has completed the global picture by independently analysing Copernicus data from climate models, measurements from about 20 satellites, and weather stations.
The data spans the whole world, hour by hour, since 1970.
Here is what the detailed analysis revealed for 2025, during which 120 monthly temperature records were broken in more than 70 countries.

Records shattered in C.Asia

Every country in Central Asia broke its annual temperature records.
Landlocked, mountainous Tajikistan, where only 41 percent of the population has access to safe drinking water, saw the highest abnormal temperatures in the world, at more than 3C above its seasonal averages from 1981 to 2010.
Monthly temperature records have been broken every month since May, with the exception of November.
Neighbouring countries such as Kazakhstan, Iran and Uzbekistan experienced temperatures 2C to 3C above the seasonal average. 

Up to 1.5C hotter in the Sahel

Temperature records were beaten in several countries in the Sahel and west Africa.
Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Chad saw a rare divergence in temperatures, notching 0.7C to 1.5C above their seasonal average.
The last 12 months were the hottest ever recorded in Nigeria, and one of the fourth hottest in the other countries.
Scientists from the World Weather Attribution (WWA) network, who assess the role of human-induced climate change in extreme weather events, wrote in their annual report published on Monday that extreme heat events "have become almost 10 times more likely since 2015".
Countries in the Sahel -- the semi-arid region of west and north-central Africa stretching from Senegal to Sudan -- are among the most vulnerable to rising temperatures, with many already facing armed conflict, food insecurity and widespread poverty.

Scorching summer in Europe

Around 10 European countries are on the verge of, or coming close to, breaking their annual temperature record, notably due to an exceptional summer.
In Switzerland and several Balkan countries, summer temperatures were 2C and even 3C above their seasonal average.
Spain, Portugal and Britain also recorded their worst summer on record, with extreme heat fuelling massive wildfires. 
The driest spring in more than a century led to a UK water shortage.
Northern Europe was largely spared the heatwave that hit Europe at the end of June but it instead experienced an abnormally warm autumn.
The last 12 months are expected to be one of the two warmest years on record in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland.
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politics

Journalist Tatiana Schlossberg, granddaughter of JFK, dies at 35

  • She was also deeply critical of her relative Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who now serves as health secretary in President Donald Trump's cabinet and has curtailed access to vaccines while slashing spending on government medical research.
  • American environmental journalist Tatiana Schlossberg, the granddaughter of late president John F. Kennedy, has died from cancer at the age of 35, her family announced Tuesday.
  • She was also deeply critical of her relative Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who now serves as health secretary in President Donald Trump's cabinet and has curtailed access to vaccines while slashing spending on government medical research.
American environmental journalist Tatiana Schlossberg, the granddaughter of late president John F. Kennedy, has died from cancer at the age of 35, her family announced Tuesday.
"Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts," the family wrote in a statement posted on the JFK Library Foundation's Instagram account.
Schlossberg, a science and climate reporter for the New York Times, wrote movingly about her diagnosis with acute myeloid leukemia in an essay for The New Yorker published in November.
Doctors were first alerted to the condition -- mostly seen in older patients and among first responders to the 9/11 attacks in New York -- after detecting an unusually high white blood cell count following the birth of her second child in May 2024.
"During the latest clinical trial, my doctor told me that he could keep me alive for a year, maybe," she wrote. "My first thought was that my kids, whose faces live permanently on the inside of my eyelids, wouldn't remember me."
She was also deeply critical of her relative Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who now serves as health secretary in President Donald Trump's cabinet and has curtailed access to vaccines while slashing spending on government medical research.
"I watched from my hospital bed as Bobby, in the face of logic and common sense, was confirmed for the position, despite never having worked in medicine, public health, or the government," she wrote.
Schlossberg published widely in leading outlets including The Atlantic and Vanity Fair, and in 2019 authored the prize-winning book "Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don't Know You Have."
The daughter of designer Edwin Schlossberg and diplomat Caroline Kennedy, she is survived by her husband, George Moran, a physician, and their two children.
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health

French ban on 'forever chemicals' in cosmetics, clothing to enter force

  • The French law, approved by lawmakers in February, bans the production, import or sale from January 2026 of any product for which an alternative to PFAS already exists.
  • A French ban on the production and sale of cosmetics and most clothing containing polluting and health-threatening "forever chemicals" goes into force on Thursday.
  • The French law, approved by lawmakers in February, bans the production, import or sale from January 2026 of any product for which an alternative to PFAS already exists.
A French ban on the production and sale of cosmetics and most clothing containing polluting and health-threatening "forever chemicals" goes into force on Thursday.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are human-made chemicals used since the late 1940s to mass produce the non-stick, waterproof and stain-resistant treatments that coat everything from frying pans to umbrellas, carpets and dental floss.
Because PFAS take an extremely long time to break down -- earning them their "forever" nickname -- they have seeped into the soil and groundwater, and from there into the food chain and drinking water.
These chemicals have been detected virtually everywhere on Earth, from the top of Mount Everest to inside human blood and brains.
Chronic exposure to even low levels of the chemicals has been linked to liver damage, high cholesterol, reduced immune responses, low birthweights and several kinds of cancer.
The French law, approved by lawmakers in February, bans the production, import or sale from January 2026 of any product for which an alternative to PFAS already exists.
These include cosmetics and ski wax, as well as clothing containing the chemicals, except certain "essential" industrial textiles.
A ban on non-stick saucepans was removed from the draft law after intense lobbying from the owners of French manufacturer Tefal.
It will also make French authorities regularly test drinking water for all kinds of PFAS.
There are thousands of different PFAS and certain ones have been banned since 2019 under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, but China and the United States are not among the more than 150 signatories.
This includes perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), used since the 1950s by US company DuPont to manufacture its non-stick Teflon coating for textiles and other everyday consumer products.
The Stockholm Convention also bans perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), known for its use as a waterproofing agent by the US group 3M, which has been heavily restricted since 2009.
A handful of US states, including California, implemented a ban on the intentional use of PFAS in cosmetics beginning in 2025, and several other states are slated to follow in 2026.
Denmark will ban the use of PFAS in clothing, footwear and certain consumer products with waterproofing agents beginning on July 1, 2026.
Denmark has banned the use of PFAS in food packaging since 2020. 
The European Union has been studying a possible ban on the use of PFAS in consumer products, but has not yet presented or implemented such a regulation.
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plastic

France pushes back plastic cup ban by four years

  • It added that the ban would now start January 1, 2030, when companies would have 12 months to get rid of their stock.
  • The French government on Tuesday postponed a ban on plastic throwaway cups by four years to 2030 because of difficulties finding alternatives.
  • It added that the ban would now start January 1, 2030, when companies would have 12 months to get rid of their stock.
The French government on Tuesday postponed a ban on plastic throwaway cups by four years to 2030 because of difficulties finding alternatives.
The ban was meant to start on January 1. But the ministry for ecological transition said that results from a recent review into the "technical feasibility of eliminating plastic from cups" justified pushing back the deadline.
It said in an official decree that a new review would be carried out in 2028 of "progress made in replacing single-use plastic cups". It added that the ban would now start January 1, 2030, when companies would have 12 months to get rid of their stock.
France has gradually rolled out bans on single-use plastic products over the past decade as environmental campaigners step up warnings about their impact on rivers and oceans.
A 2020 law set a deadline of 2040 to eliminate all single-use plastics. A ban on plastic bags for loads of less than 1.5 kilogrammes (3.3 pounds) of 30 fruit and vegetables was introduced in 2022 and has dramatically changed supermarket habits.
The postponement marks "yet another step backwards in the fight against plastic pollution, under pressure from lobby groups," said Manon Richert, a spokeswoman for the environmental group Zero Waste France
She said "the argument put forward about technical feasibility is shaky" because solutions exist but haven't been widely adopted due a lack of investment and an inadequate regulatory framework.
Environmental campaigners say the phase out of single-use plastics has been too slow.
At the start of 2024 the groups Zero Waste France, Surfrider Foundation Europe, Les Amis de la Terre, France Nature Environnement and No Plastic in my Sea issued a failing grade in their report card for implementation of the 2020 law.
They pointed to measures which had not been implemented and government decrees which limited the impact of the law.
Meanwhile, the government's DGCCRF consumer protection agency said in a report released last year that almost a fifth of about 100 companies it checked in 2023 were breaching regulations on the production or use of single-use plastic items.
Its investigators said some marketed plastic-free products that in reality contained plastic, and some changed the name of the item in a bid to get around the ban.
hrc/rl/gv

climate

Iraqis cover soil with clay to curb sandstorms

BY AMMAR KARIM

  • In a relatively small area between the cities of Nasiriyah and Samawah, not far from ancient Sumerian ruins, labourers are working hard to stabilise the soil by applying a layer of moist clay 20–25 centimetres thick.
  • Deep in Iraq's southern desert, bulldozers and earthmovers spread layers of moist clay over sand dunes as part of a broader effort to fight increasingly frequent sandstorms.
  • In a relatively small area between the cities of Nasiriyah and Samawah, not far from ancient Sumerian ruins, labourers are working hard to stabilise the soil by applying a layer of moist clay 20–25 centimetres thick.
Deep in Iraq's southern desert, bulldozers and earthmovers spread layers of moist clay over sand dunes as part of a broader effort to fight increasingly frequent sandstorms.
Iraq has long suffered from sand and dust storms, but in recent years they have become more frequent and intense as the country falls prey to the effects of climate change.
Sand and dust storms -- driven by severe drought, rising temperatures and deforestation -- have cloaked cities and villages in an endless ochre haze, grounded flights and filled hospitals with patients suffering from breathing difficulties.
Iraqi authorities have warned that these suffocating storms will intensify further, adding urgency to address the root of the problem.
In a relatively small area between the cities of Nasiriyah and Samawah, not far from ancient Sumerian ruins, labourers are working hard to stabilise the soil by applying a layer of moist clay 20–25 centimetres thick.
The project also includes planting heat-tolerant seedlings like Prosopis and Conocarpus to further stabilise the soil.
"The main goal is to reduce the impact of transboundary dust storms, which may reach Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar," said Udai Taha Lafta from UN-Habitat, which is leading the project to combat sandstorms with Iraqi expertise.
"It is a vital area despite its small size, and will hopefully help reduce dust storms next summer," Lafta said.
A short-term objective is to shield a southern highway where many traffic accidents have occurred due to poor visibility during dust storms.

 'Slow but steady'

The Ministry of Environment estimates that Iraq now faces about 243 storms per year, and the frequency is expected to increase to 300 "dust days" by 2050 unless drastic mitigation measures are adopted.
In 2023, Iraqi authorities teamed up with the UN-Habitat and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development in areas that have been identified as major sources of sandstorms.
The project has been implementing several methods in three southern areas, including digging water canals and supplying electricity to pump water from the Euphrates river, preparing barren lands for vegetation. 
One of the project's ultimate goals is to increase green spaces and for farmers to eventually sustain the lands after droughts and chronic water shortages have drastically reduced agricultural areas.
Qahtan al-Mhana, from the agriculture ministry, said that stabilising the soil gives agricultural efforts in sandy areas a chance to endure.
He added that Iraq has extensive "successful" experience in combating desertification and dust storms by stabilising sand dunes.
Since the 1970s, the country has implemented such projects, but after decades of turmoil, environmental challenges have largely fallen by the wayside.
With the severe recent impact of climate change, "work has resumed," said Najm Abed Taresh from Dhi Qar University.
"We are making slow but steady progress," Taresh said.
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environment

'Make emitters responsible': Thailand's clean air activists

BY MONTIRA RUNGJIRAJITTRANON

  • "In Thailand, and particularly in the very highly uncertain political environment, one of the things that Thais are certain of is a huge amount of uncertainty," she said.
  • A finance specialist who struggled after running in smog and a doctor who fears for the health of his children are among the activists spearheading landmark air pollution legislation in Thailand despite political uncertainty.
  • "In Thailand, and particularly in the very highly uncertain political environment, one of the things that Thais are certain of is a huge amount of uncertainty," she said.
A finance specialist who struggled after running in smog and a doctor who fears for the health of his children are among the activists spearheading landmark air pollution legislation in Thailand despite political uncertainty.
Each winter, large parts of Thailand are plagued by haze caused by weather patterns, seasonal burning, vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions.
Years of efforts to tackle the problem, including work-from-home policies and rules on crop stubble burning, have done little to alleviate the issue.
Now, there is a glimmer of hope for fresh action in the form of the Clean Air bill, which would enshrine the right to breathable air, tax emitters and offer public information on the sources of pollution.
Wirun Limsawart, who has helped lead the push for the measure as part of the Thailand Clean Air Network (CAN), grew up in southern Nakhon Si Thammarat.
But it wasn't until he returned to Thailand in 2018 after a decade abroad that he realised the scale of the country's pollution problem.
He began to worry about the impact of the dirty air on his three children.
"It made me question my role as an anthropologist and a doctor," he told AFP.
"What can I do?"
The son of a seamstress and a mechanic, Wirun was a straight-A student who studied at one of Thailand's top medical schools. 
"My parents always showed me what it meant to genuinely care for others in their work, so that kind of embedded in me," the 49-year-old said.
"I chose a career path that allowed me to help people."
His life has been marked by illness.
In his early twenties, Wirun collapsed on a bus and was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
After chemotherapy and years of follow-up tests, the experience deepened his desire to better understand patients.
"My role was switched to become a patient... I wanted to genuinely understand patients from a doctor's perspective."
After eight years as a general practitioner in some of Thailand's poorest and most remote regions, he obtained a master's degree and PhD in anthropology at Harvard University.
He now works at the Ministry of Public Health as an anthropological doctor, blending medical research with studying human behaviour. 

'My problem too'

Wirun's pollution worries led him to a panel discussion in Bangkok on the issue in 2019, and the conversations evolved into CAN, which has spent several years advancing clean air legislation.
More than 20,000 people backed the group's call for action -- surpassing the threshold for public-initiated legislation -- and a draft bill passed the Thai parliament's lower house in October.
"We need to make emitters responsible," Wirun said.
But that goal is facing a new hurdle after Thailand's prime minister dissolved parliament this month, putting the bill on hold.
Still, the measure could be brought back after general elections early next year, if there is political will, according to Weenarin Lulitanonda, CAN's co-founder.
"In Thailand, and particularly in the very highly uncertain political environment, one of the things that Thais are certain of is a huge amount of uncertainty," she said.
"Right now, honestly, it's anyone's guess. We really don't know until general elections are held."
An outdoor run in 2018 drew Weenarin into clean air activism. The experience left her with a piercing headache she later learned was caused by Bangkok's seasonal smog.
More than 10 million people required treatment for pollution-related health problems in Thailand in 2023, according to the health ministry.
Weenarin had previously lived in New Zealand and never worried about air quality, but the more she looked into the issue, the more she was determined to do something about it.
"How is it possible that (in Thailand) someone has no information about what they are breathing?" she said, recalling the question that pushed her into activism.
Having studied finance and worked at the World Bank, Weenarin began contacting experts to understand the problem before helping establish CAN.
She said her motivation is simple: "If there were an alternative to breathing, I wouldn't care."
Clean-air reforms rarely start with governments or businesses, Weenarin said, and she worries too few Thais see the crisis as their problem.
"Don't vote for anybody who doesn't have clean air legislation as a key political manifesto and a commitment... follow them, become the political watchdog that we all need to be," she said.
She is determined to keep fighting though, so "enough Thais wake up and say this is my problem too".
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environment

Elusive wild cat feared extinct rediscovered in Thailand

BY PASIKA KHERNAMNUOY

  • In Thailand, it has long been listed as "possibly extinct". 
  • An elusive wild cat long feared extinct in Thailand has been rediscovered three decades after the last recorded sighting, conservation authorities and an NGO said Friday.
  • In Thailand, it has long been listed as "possibly extinct". 
An elusive wild cat long feared extinct in Thailand has been rediscovered three decades after the last recorded sighting, conservation authorities and an NGO said Friday.
Flat-headed cats are among the world's rarest and most threatened wild felines. Their range is limited to Southeast Asia and they are endangered because of dwindling habitat.
The domestic cat-sized feline with its distinctive round and close-set eyes was last spotted in a documented sighting in Thailand in 1995.
But an ecological survey that began last year, using camera traps in southern Thailand's Princess Sirindhorn Wildlife Sanctuary, recorded 29 detections, according to the country's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and wild cat conservation organisation Panthera.
"The rediscovery is exciting, yet concerning at the same time," veterinarian and researcher Kaset Sutasha of Kasetsart University told AFP, noting that habitat fragmentation has left the species increasingly "isolated".
It was not immediately clear how many individuals the detections represent, as the species lacks distinctive markings so counting is tricky.
But the findings suggest a relatively high concentration of the species, Panthera conservation programme manager Rattapan Pattanarangsan told AFP.
The footage included a female flat-headed cat with her cub -- a rare and encouraging sign for a species that typically produces only one offspring at a time.
Nocturnal and elusive, the flat-headed cat typically lives in dense wetland ecosystems such as peat swamps and freshwater mangroves, environments that are extremely difficult for researchers to access, Rattapan said.
Globally, the International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that around 2,500 adult flat-headed cats remain in the wild, classifying the species as endangered. 
In Thailand, it has long been listed as "possibly extinct". 
Thailand's peat swamp forests have been heavily fragmented, largely due to land conversion and agricultural expansion, said Kaset, who was not involved in the ecological survey but has researched wild cats for years.
The animals also face mounting threats from disease spread by domestic animals, and they struggle to reproduce across isolated areas. 
While the rediscovery offers hope, it is only a "starting point" for future conservation efforts, he said.
"What comes after this is more important -- how to enable them to live alongside us sustainably, without being threatened."
pk/sah/sco/rsc

weather

'Starting anew': Indonesians in disaster-struck Sumatra hold Christmas mass

BY AMROE

  • Around 30 worshippers, each of them holding a lit candle, sung Christmas hymns.
  • At a church in Sumatra, dozens of worshippers sang hymns at a Christmas mass, gathered together for their first service since deadly floods swept the Indonesian island.
  • Around 30 worshippers, each of them holding a lit candle, sung Christmas hymns.
At a church in Sumatra, dozens of worshippers sang hymns at a Christmas mass, gathered together for their first service since deadly floods swept the Indonesian island.
The Angkola Protestant Church, in the hard-hit South Tapanuli district, was festooned on Wednesday with balloons and simple Christmas decorations.
Outside, the street leading to the building was buried under mounds of debris and foliage.
Many in the congregation are still sheltering at evacuation sites after the disaster wreaked havoc on the island four weeks ago.
Churchgoer Krismanto Nainggolan said this year's Christmas service was "different", even as he noted joy in the bittersweet moment.
"The feelings are mixed. Every word of the pastor's sermon made us want to cry," he told AFP after the Christmas mass.
"But the spirit of Christmas... gave us strength," he added.
Krismanto lost his house in the flooding, while many of his neighbours were killed.
According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, 1,129 people died, and more than 170 others are still missing.
While the annual monsoon season often brings heavy rain to Indonesia, this month's deluge was among the worst disasters to strike Sumatra since a magnitude-9.1 earthquake triggered a massive tsunami in 2004.
In South Tapanuli, churchgoer Mea Rosmawati Zebua said she had not expected to be able to celebrate Christmas this year.
"In past years, Christmas was a routine. Now, (we are) very grateful because God still gives us the breath of life," the 54-year-old told AFP.
While Christmas mass is typically held in the evening, the Angkola church moved its service to Wednesday afternoon ahead of rain forecast in the evening, pastor Yansen Roberto Ritonga said.
To prepare for the first service since the disaster, the church had to remove towering heaps of mud that had been washed inside.
Soldiers and police had helped clear the debris and driftwood.
On Wednesday afternoon, a man rang the church's bell before the pastor's entrance, marking the start of the mass.
Around 30 worshippers, each of them holding a lit candle, sung Christmas hymns.
Yansen said this year's Christmas served as a moment of "reflection" for the congregation.
Churchgoer Krismanto said that despite the widespread damage and the personal cost of the disaster, he chose to see it as a new beginning.
"Our hopes depend solely on God because we are now starting over... our lives are starting anew," he said.
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California

Southern California soaked by powerful Christmas storms

  • Late Wednesday the first storm moved out of the Los Angeles area, "but another storm is expected to move in later tonight into Christmas Day," weather officials warned.
  • Flash flood warnings were in effect in Los Angeles and most of southern California on Wednesday as one of the worst Christmas storms in recent memory brought heavy rain and fears of deadly mudslides.
  • Late Wednesday the first storm moved out of the Los Angeles area, "but another storm is expected to move in later tonight into Christmas Day," weather officials warned.
Flash flood warnings were in effect in Los Angeles and most of southern California on Wednesday as one of the worst Christmas storms in recent memory brought heavy rain and fears of deadly mudslides.
Driven by an atmospheric river known as "the Pineapple Express," which moves heavy moisture from the tropical climes of Hawaii to rain on the West Coast, the storm is expected to deliver months' worth of rain over the next few days.
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in several counties, including Los Angeles, to facilitate the rapid mobilization and allocation of resources if needed.
"Life-threatening flash flooding continues over Southern California today and tomorrow; heavy mountain snow and high winds also ongoing," the National Weather Service (NWS) said, adding that "lives and property are in great danger."
The first burst of heavy rain hit the region Tuesday night, leaving Los Angeles with fallen trees and some debris in the streets, as well as minor flooding that hampered traffic.
The rainfall intensified early Wednesday, leaving thousands of people in southern California without power due to downed lines caused by the fury of the Christmas storm. 
Late Wednesday the first storm moved out of the Los Angeles area, "but another storm is expected to move in later tonight into Christmas Day," weather officials warned.
Some communities already received 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) of rain in the first storm, forecasters said.
Across the state, some 80,000 homes and businesses had no electricity heading into Christmas Eve, according to tracking site Poweroutage.us.
Fire burn scars and the communities near them across the state are under special alert, including the coastal areas of Pacific Palisades and Malibu, as they are still recovering from the devastating wildfires in January. 
Due to fire damage, the terrain is susceptible to mudslides from heavy rain.
While many were still hoping to drive to spend the holidays with family, transportation officials were busy announcing road and freeway closures due to flooding, fallen trees and mud flows across Southern California. 
The Red Cross opened shelters in several communities as some residents in Southern California received immediate evacuation orders.
Authorities were responding to a series of accidents Wednesday, and several major roads were closed due to flash flood warnings.
Ariel Cohen, an NWS meteorologist, warned that from Wednesday afternoon through Friday, "many areas will likely experience significant flooding, along with rockslides and mudslides, especially in the higher elevations." 
"If you were planning to travel on the roads during Christmas, please reconsider your plans," he added.

'Doesn't feel safe'

However, many Angelenos were still out and about Wednesday, buying last-minute gifts, grocery shopping, even jogging.
For some though, Christmas travel was upended.
"We decided to stay home," said Jim Lewis, who opted against going to his cousins in nearby Pasadena and was doing last-minute shopping in the city instead.
"We've been receiving all these alerts, it doesn't feel safe, I don't feel like driving there at dark," he told AFP.
Larissa Peet, who was planning a party, said her celebration was still on.
"Nothing that we're doing differently. Just hanging out, eating, drinking and having a good time," she said.
In addition to the threat of flooding, meteorologists are forecasting wind gusts up to 80 miles per hour (nearly 130 kilometers per hour) in the mountains and deserts of Los Angeles County.
Some Californian communities are still reeling from thousands of wildfires that killed 31 people across the state during 2025, including residential neighborhoods of Los Angeles.
In the Sierra Nevada range along the eastern border of California, more than a foot (30 centimeters) of snow had already fallen this week, with up to five feet forecast before the storm is through.
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