At two o’clock in the morning on Saturday, the last day of May, a violent storm struck the city of Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast, in an unusual scene at the end of spring. The storm lasted about 45 minutes, interspersed with heavy thunderstorms and an unprecedented fall of large hailstones, accompanied by strong winds whose speed exceeded 50 kilometres per hour, causing widespread panic among residents.
The storm resulted in injuries to seven citizens and caused material losses, most notably partial collapses in ten buildings within the districts of Montaza 1, Montaza 2, East, Central and El-Gomrok. Seven lampposts also fell in the Montaza 1, East and Central districts, along with eight advertising billboards in the East and Central districts, a number of trees, a lighting cable, an air-conditioning unit and iron pipes belonging to restoration works, in addition to a fire breaking out in a car. The quantities of rain and hail flooded the streets and disrupted traffic on a large number of vital roads.
Local authorities reduced drinking water pressure temporarily in some areas of west Alexandria and Montaza, to ease the loads on the water networks and facilitate rain drainage. They also deployed sewage trucks and equipment intensively in the East and Montaza districts, concentrating efforts on hot spots and areas where water accumulates, to ensure rapid pumping and prevent build-up. The executive agencies carried out a comprehensive field inspection to ensure the smooth flow of traffic on the main roads and to remove obstacles hindering traffic or impeding water drainage, including billboards, fallen trees and damaged lampposts. The governorate raised the state of readiness to maximum in all districts and at the water, sanitation and electricity companies, with continued coordination with operations rooms and rapid intervention activated as soon as reports were received.
On the other hand, the Egyptian Meteorological Authority faced sharp criticism after the storm, owing to the absence of any pre-emptive warnings of atmospheric disturbances of this scale. The authority’s statement on the weather forecast for Saturday, 31 May 2025, merely referred to “chances of light to moderate rain, which may at times be thundery” over parts of the western coasts and the north of Lower Egypt, extending lightly to the south of Lower Egypt at intermittent intervals, in addition to “wind activity” on the coasts of Lower Egypt and the north-eastern regions, which may stir up sand and dust in exposed areas of Cairo, the Canal cities, the Gulf of Suez, the northern Red Sea, Sinai, northern Upper Egypt and the Western Desert, at scattered intervals.
A Severe Thunderstorm of the Super Type
Physics and meteorology researcher Ahmed Saeed denies that the storm that struck Alexandria was the result of changes in the Earth’s electromagnetic field or of any weather-control operations, explaining that it was caused by a cold low-pressure system deepening in the upper layers of the atmosphere, which is rare at this time of year, as Egypt is usually affected by cold troughs or basins that cause light rain on the northern coasts.
Saeed explains that the recent low recorded low temperatures at the 500-hectopascal level in the troposphere, reaching -19 degrees, coinciding with strong humidity in the lower and middle layers of the atmosphere (850 and 700 hectopascals), which allowed rain clouds to form along with strong convective activity, as a result of latent energy stored in the layers of the atmosphere. As the low approached north-west Egypt, thunderclouds began to form over eastern Libya and reached Salloum on Friday evening. As soon as they entered Egyptian territory and grew deeper, the thunderstorms turned into ground lightning strikes that hit areas between Salloum and Marsa Matrouh, passing through Alexandria and El-Alamein, while the clouds crept towards the sea and the danger of the storm grew with them.
He adds that the edges of the giant thundercloud, which was centred over the sea, barely touched the coasts of Alexandria and the northern Delta, causing severe lightning and thunder and heavy falls of hailstones of unusual size, accompanied by downdraughts released from the heart of the thunderclouds. Saeed believes it likely that the eastern areas of Alexandria received the largest share of the rain, unlike the west of the city, because east Alexandria extends into the sea and lies directly facing the opposing winds that were prevailing at the time. West Alexandria, meanwhile, saw a strong updraught that held quantities of rain in the upper layers for a period, which allowed large hailstones to form. As soon as this current weakened, rain and hail fell heavily on the east of the city.
Saeed says, speaking to Zawia3: “The thunderclouds started from Libya and took a different course in the Salloum area, and the area stretching to Marsa Matrouh saw severe thunderstorms, with lightning striking the ground. Between Alexandria and El-Alamein, a strong updraught formed that pushed the clouds towards the Mediterranean.” He affirms that what happened is classified neither as a category-one hurricane nor as a Mediterranean tropical or subtropical storm, but rather as “a severe thunderstorm of the super type”, noting that atmospheric pressure did not fall below 1000 hectopascals, which indicates that it was an extremely powerful weather system that formed within a limited area and left a direct impact on the coasts of northern Egypt, from Alexandria to Baltim, Edku and Burg El-Burullus. He links this pattern of storms to climate change, noting that it is not the first of its kind, but that such storms mostly used to hit uninhabited areas in the Western Desert, and they are expected to become more frequent in the coming years.
Saeed concludes by pointing out that Egypt’s drainage networks need to be upgraded so that they can absorb the quantities of rain and flash floods resulting from extreme weather phenomena. He also stresses the need to make sure that advertising billboards are securely fixed to withstand strong winds, which during the Alexandria storm reached about 100 kilometres per hour. Although he praises the scientific talent within the Meteorological Authority, he believes that the authority avoids issuing severe forecasts and does not provide continuous updates that take into account rapid changes in the weather, noting that what happened “exceeded all the expectations of meteorology and weather experts”.
Dr Sawsan El-Awady, an expert in climate change and environmental policy, says that Egypt is currently under the influence of the “La Niña” phenomenon, even though its primary origin lies in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. She explains that the effect of this phenomenon extends to geographically distant regions, including the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa, and Egypt in particular. “La Niña” leads to a marked drop in sea surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific, which results in a disruption of global air currents and atmospheric pressure patterns, and consequently affects weather conditions in remote regions.
El-Awady points out that the effects of “La Niña” in Egypt manifest themselves in colder and drier winters in some years, as a result of weaker lows coming from the Mediterranean and reduced chances of rain on the northern coasts and in Lower Egypt. This negatively affects water resources and the distribution of moisture, and can also cause agricultural disruption resulting from delayed rains or changes in the timing of the seasons. She notes that this phenomenon also affects the flows of the Nile, as a result of changing rainfall patterns in its upper basins in Sudan and Ethiopia.
Speaking to Zawia3, El-Awady says: “Egypt was previously affected by the El Niño phenomenon, and now we are under the influence of La Niña, and we have entered a new climatic phase. In the coming years, thunderstorms are expected to increase, particularly in coastal areas on the Mediterranean. These phenomena are directly linked to climate change, and they must be confronted through a long-term national plan that takes into account the new climatic region in which Egypt is settling.” For clarification, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) had announced, in its assessment issued on 10 April 2025, the return of neutral conditions for the “ENSO” phenomenon since March, meaning the end of the La Niña phenomenon.
She stresses that climate phenomena, which were previously regarded as recurring natural cycles, have today become more severe and more frequent due to global climate change, which complicates efforts to adapt to them. She calls for a shift from a logic of response to a logic of anticipation and planning, by strengthening early warning systems and integrating climate issues into agricultural, water and urban planning policies.
For his part, Hossam Moharram, an environmental expert and former adviser to the Minister of Environment, explains, speaking to Zawia3, that the natural disasters witnessed by countries around the world have become more severe, even though many of them used to be rare in Egypt or came in milder degrees, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and tsunami waves. He believes that the prevailing construction pattern in Egypt, and the existing infrastructure, may face major challenges if changes occur in the severity of natural disasters, whether spontaneous or engineered.
He points to the need to task universities and research centres with preparing comprehensive studies of all possible natural disaster scenarios, developing the engineering codes for earthquake-resistant construction, expanding rain and flash-flood drainage networks, and incorporating this into new development and construction plans. He also calls for rehabilitating old buildings to withstand these changes, and for drawing on successful international experiences, such as Japan’s experience in mitigating the effects of earthquakes, or the models for dealing with hurricanes in the United States, which have managed to limit the effects of destruction despite the strength of the disasters.
Moharram says: “The Mediterranean region has seen a surge in natural disasters recently, including the Derna hurricane, which claimed thousands of lives, and what happened in Alexandria at the end of last May. These phenomena are part of the expected effects of global climate change, which specialists see as divided into two parts: one is natural cycles that recur across the ages, and the other results from human intervention linked to the development of technology and the fossil fuel economy since the Industrial Revolution.”
Concluding his remarks, Moharram points to the importance of not overlooking some of the hypotheses circulating about man-made disasters, which are put forward within the framework of what is known as new-generation wars, and in which major powers such as the United States, Russia and China are accused of using advanced technologies to engineer earthquakes, floods or hurricanes without fighting conventional wars. According to information circulating in narrow circles, these disasters are used as a means of pressure to destroy the economies of targeted states, influence their political will or embarrass their governments before their peoples, making them a form of undeclared aggression that avoids the international legal and political consequences.
Solar Flares and Solar Eruptions
Abbas Sharaki, professor of water resources and geology at Cairo University, attributed the unstable weather in the eastern Mediterranean region to solar eruptions and the arrival of solar flare radiation and particles in the Earth’s atmosphere, which may cause severe weather phenomena, revealing in media statements that two powerful solar eruptions occurred on Friday, followed by another wave of solar eruptions on Saturday morning.
The Al-Khatim Astronomical Observatory, affiliated with the International Astronomical Center, had documented at noon on Sunday the occurrence of a geomagnetic storm that reached level G3 at 07:21 on Sunday morning GMT, as a result of the arrival of solar coronal mass ejections (CME) launched from the sun on 31 May at 00:15 GMT, causing a solar flare of strength M8.1 that erupted from sunspot group No. AR4100.
In statements to Zawia3, Egyptian-American astronomer and space scientist Dr Essam Heggy considers that reports attributing the unstable weather in the eastern Mediterranean region to solar eruptions are incorrect and based on general readings rather than on recent research, denying any truth to the rumours circulating on social media that attribute the recent climatic events and earthquakes to an alleged collapse of the polar vortex that caused a disturbance in the Earth’s axis of rotation, or to the presence of a celestial body in the constellation of Orion emitting powerful electromagnetic waves that penetrate the Earth’s magnetic shield.
For its part, the Space Weather Prediction Center of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned of the effects of a geomagnetic storm of the “severe (G4)” level reaching Earth from Sunday, 1 June, with its effects continuing until Tuesday, 3 June, following the eruption that occurred on the sun on 30 May, warning that the storm could have negative effects on electrical infrastructure, satellite systems and navigation signals, which could lead to voltage control problems and temporary outages, particularly in power transmission lines.
More Building Collapses
Space scientist Essam Heggy warns that the intensity of the storms in Alexandria and the change in their timing result from several climatic changes that will also lead to more building collapses, adding, in a tweet on his account on the social media platform “X”: “We have warned again and again, but unfortunately we are still treating science with disdain and denial from voices that deceive decision-makers. I hold them responsible.”
A recent scientific study, published last February in the international journal Earth’s Future, which specialises in climate studies, and conducted by a team of climate, marine and space scientists including Essam Heggy, led by Egyptian architect Sarah Fouad (in a unique scientific collaboration project between German, Dutch, American, Tunisian and Egyptian universities), had revealed that Alexandria witnessed more than 280 building collapses on its coasts over the past two decades, and that coastal building collapses in the Egyptian city of Alexandria rose tenfold over the past twenty years, warning of the growing risk on the coasts of the southern Mediterranean basin, particularly the Egyptian city of Alexandria, which leaves about 7,000 buildings there vulnerable to collapse amid rising sea levels and climate change, and affirming the existence of a link between shoreline retreat, land subsidence and building collapse.
The study, funded by the University of California, the US space agency NASA and the German von Humboldt Foundation, which relied on analysing photographic satellite images between 1974 and 2021 to study climatic and coastal changes, shows that building collapses in Alexandria are linked to coastal erosion resulting from an imbalance in sediment, caused by urban expansion, alongside rising sea levels, which has led to increased seawater intrusion into coastal groundwater aquifers, a rise in the level of that water and the erosion of building foundations, which hastens their collapse.
Heggy had previously explained that 117 collapses were recorded between 2013 and 2015, compared with only one between 2001 and 2004, and that these collapses are concentrated mainly in areas close to the sea, such as the districts of west Alexandria, El-Gomrok and the city centre, which confirms the direct impact of environmental and climatic factors on the stability of buildings, noting that Alexandria was chosen as the main model for this study because of its unique geographical location as a historic coastal city, which makes it vulnerable to climate change and sea-level rise; the city is a living example of the challenges facing other coastal cities, as the research results reflect potential risks and preventive measures that can be applied globally.
He tells Zawia3: “As the sea level advances, salt water enters the groundwater and raises its level, so it reaches the foundations of buildings and leads to their erosion and the collapse of the buildings, and it affects the rigidity properties of the soil, leading to cracking and tilting of buildings and land subsidence. Looking at the annual rate of building collapses in the governorate, which has reached 40 collapses, and comparing it with the number of buildings there, which reaches about half a million buildings, this is a high rate, especially since dozens of lives have been lost in them, and there are 7,000 buildings at risk of collapse, and every building that collapses threatens the buildings around it,” affirming that poor planning bears 50% of the responsibility for those collapses.
The data of the 2017 establishments census, issued by the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), indicate that the number of buildings at risk of collapse stands at 97,535, distributed across the country, and statistics show that there are 7 million buildings in violation in Egypt, including 2 million and 184,000 violations in recent years; meanwhile, the Egyptian Center for Housing Rights estimates that there are 1.4 million buildings at risk of collapse nationwide.
Infrastructure
The flooding of many of Alexandria’s streets, after heavy rainfall lasting no more than 45 minutes, which resulted in 48 accumulations of rainwater across the governorate’s districts before the competent local authorities dealt with them, prompted criticism of the governorate’s infrastructure, which some considered unequipped to withstand climate change.
Engineer Hassan El-Khatib, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, had announced last April that Egypt had pumped massive investments into infrastructure over the past ten years, worth more than USD 550 billion, statements that were repeated in turn by Hossam Heiba, CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, last May.
For his part, Dr Hassan Mahdy, professor of road engineering at Ain Shams University, believes that it is difficult to predict the consequences of climate change for infrastructure, and that Egypt, like other countries in the world that are witnessing rainfall and flash floods out of season as a result of these emerging changes, must therefore prepare for them with precautionary measures, consisting of greater attention to rain and flash-flood drains and to studies on surface water drainage in all road studies, more intensively, with regard to all road projects. He explains to Zawia3 that roads located in mountainous areas are the most vulnerable to the accumulation of floodwater, and require the implementation of measures to drain floodwater safely so that it does not cut off or destroy the road; and by the nature of the design of some roads, there are low-lying areas where rainwater accumulates in certain spots, which can be overcome by identifying them geographically and installing drains to discharge rainwater quickly.
The road engineering professor points to the possibility of confronting thunderstorms through the process of electrical grounding, which is the process of connecting the frame of an electrical appliance or appliances to the earth to ensure safety and provide a safe path for discharging excess electrical current or in the event of a fault; this can be applied to street lighting poles and to the rooftops of buildings.
Meanwhile, Dr Abdullah Abu Khadra, professor of road and transport engineering at Beni Suef University, affirms that in light of the effects of climate change that Egypt has experienced, it has become an absolute necessity to carry out environmental studies and hydrological studies in all road projects (specialised studies concerned with the behaviour of water in the natural environment, its distribution, movement and properties, which are essential in the design of engineering projects that interact with water directly or indirectly, such as dams, bridges, roads and buildings), a measure the state has begun to take recently, taking into account all the changes taking place and building rainwater drains, particularly in the coastal governorates, directing them to flash-flood channels and maximising the benefit from them, particularly in the eastern region; a number of dams have also been built in the governorates to avoid their damage.
He tells Zawia3: “The infrastructure in Alexandria Governorate has been improved, and it has seen improvement in coping with rainwater compared with what it was in previous eras, as a rainwater drainage network has been built on the main and internal roads, and a budget is allocated for this, along with enhancing the use of that water in agriculture and land reclamation, within the 5 million feddan project in Toshka, the New Delta, Sinai and Upper Egypt.”
Abu Khadra points out that Egypt has a general orientation towards using environmentally friendly green transport, and has allocated EGP 2 trillion to develop transport alternatives, including EGP 1.1 trillion for the shift to green mass transport, the President’s initiative for electric transport and clean loading and unloading equipment, and the application of environmental standards for clean ports, in an attempt to find radical solutions instead of the painkillers that were adopted in previous eras.
Parliamentary Moves
In the wake of the Alexandria storm, MP Karim El-Sadat, a member of the House of Representatives, submitted an urgent briefing request to Counsellor Dr Hanafy Gebaly, Speaker of the House, addressed to the Meteorological Authority, over the shortcomings in the weather warnings that preceded the wave of flash floods that struck Alexandria Governorate at dawn on Saturday and caused material damage and panic among citizens, stressing the need to update and develop the meteorological system and the authority’s need to strengthen its technical and technological capabilities to keep pace with the sudden climatic changes that have become a feature of the weather in Egypt in recent years.
Meanwhile, MP Mahmoud Essam, a member of the House of Representatives, submitted on Saturday a briefing request to Counsellor Dr Hanafy Gebaly, Speaker of the House of Representatives, regarding the serious effects of climate change on Alexandria Governorate, calling for urgent intervention by the Prime Minister and the ministers of environment, local development and water resources to confront these challenges.
The MP considered that what happened in Alexandria is an explicit warning of a bigger disaster to come, given the frighteningly accelerating climate change, stating that there are studies saying that by 2050 a third of the city may be submerged, and expressing astonishment that a storm of such violence, with icy rain, should strike Alexandria at the end of May, which is the start of the summer season in Egypt’s most important coastal city, calling for an urgent plan at the highest level to deal with climate change in Alexandria.
During her participation in the plenary session of the Senate on Monday, Dr Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, commented on the recent climate effects in Alexandria, saying: “Egypt, despite its limited greenhouse gas emissions globally, is one of the countries most affected by the impacts of climate change, especially in the Delta and on the Egyptian coasts; therefore, since signing the Paris Agreement in 2015, it has taken many measures that ensure adaptation to those impacts as far as possible, and what Alexandria witnessed days ago was less severe than expected thanks to these measures.”
The minister explained that Egypt has made adaptation a core goal in its National Climate Change Strategy 2050, and that the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation began shore protection measures, including in Alexandria, 8 years ago at a cost of EGP 8 billion, in the cities of Alexandria, Rosetta, Marsa Matrouh, Damietta, Kafr El-Sheikh and Beheira, through the implementation of nature-based solutions, noting that the Cabinet issued a plan for confronting extreme weather events in 2020, in addition to work on the interactive climate change map in cooperation with the Military Survey Authority and the ministries of environment, water resources and antiquities, to predict the future effects of climate change on the different regions of the country based on current information and data.
In conclusion, it can be said that the recent Alexandria storm has raised questions about the readiness of infrastructure in Egyptian coastal cities in the face of extreme climate phenomena, and the ability to confront what is coming, at a time when experts affirm that what happened is an indicator of a more turbulent climate future, requiring the launch of comprehensive long-term strategies, a radical shift in urban and construction planning, an urgent upgrade of monitoring and early warning systems, and the integration of climate into the state’s public policies.
And if Alexandria, with its ancient history and vital location, has received a warning from nature, perhaps the time has come to turn this warning into an opportunity for survival, before the coming storms knock on the doors of other cities without any real preparedness to confront them.
