World Meteorological Organization

South-East Europe has experienced a significant number of severe meteorological and hydrological events in recent years. Heavy precipitation has caused floods and landslides. Droughts have increased the incidence of forest fires. People have suffered under prolonged heat and cold waves. There have been severe thunderstorms and hailstorms. These natural hazards have had significant impacts: human lives have been lost, property and infrastructure damaged, and the functioning of key sectors impaired. The Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggests that there will be a marked increase in the frequency of weather and climate extremes in the future, particularly of heat waves, droughts and heavy precipitation. This will, in turn, increase demand for improved early warning for communities under threat from such natural hazard as well as a need for more preparedness in those communities in order to improve their resilience. WMO initiated the ‘South-East European Multi-Hazard Early Warning Advisory System (SEE-MHEWS-A)’ project in 2016 to assist Members in the region to achieve these objectives. This project builds on the outcomes of several recent projects in the region related to disaster risk reduction that were implemented with funding from the European Union, United Nation agencies, the World Bank and a number of other international and national organizations.