Experts say the most severe floods to hit Central Europe in at least two decades fit into a broader pattern of extreme weather events.

Just a week ago, before deadly floods swept through central Europe, the Czech Republic looked on track to become the first country in the region since COVID-19 to pull its budget deficit firmly below the 3% of GDP cap set by European Union rules.

As Storm Boris brought devastating floods to central and eastern Europe, skeptics on social media dismissed the role of climate change in making the deadly rainfall more intense. But scientists have established ties between a warmer atmosphere and torrential rain,