Budget and staffing cuts under President Donald Trump's administration are undermining global efforts to monitor the climate and produce accurate weather forecasts, warns the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).

The quality and quantity of climate observations available to scientists worldwide supplied by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has already suffered a measurable decline, according to ECMWF Director General Florence Rabier.

The National Weather Service is no longer providing language translations of its products, a change that experts say could put non-English speakers at risk of missing potentially life-saving warnings about extreme weather.

The weather service has “paused” the translations because its contract with the provider has lapsed, NWS spokesperson Michael Musher said. He declined further comment.

The National Weather Service has stopped providing language translations for its products — and experts warn that the change could put non-English speakers’ lives at risk when extreme weather strikes.

The weather service “paused” the translations because its contract with Lilt, an artificial intelligence company that provided the service, lapsed, NWS spokesperson Michael Musher said. 

The federal National Weather Service (NWS) has announced it has "paused" its automated language translation service "due to a contract lapse" with translation company LILT. The firm had been translating NWS forecasts, including storm warnings, into Spanish, simplified Chinese and three other languages.

Newsweek contacted LILT for comment via email on Wednesday outside of regular office hours.

Susan Spira called her insurer days after the Los Angeles wildfires destroyed her family’s home—only to be told her policy had been canceled. The reason: In the chaotic days after the house burned to the ground, her monthly premium hadn’t been paid.

“I nearly fell apart,” she said. Spira, a real-estate lawyer, fought back and the insurer, California’s Fair Plan, agreed her Pacific Palisades house was covered when the infernos sparked.

A powerful earthquake has hit Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand, destroying buildings, damaging infrastructure and killing more than 150 people.

Myanmar’s state-run MRTV reported that at least 144 people were killed on Friday and 732 were injured in the country. The quake also hit Thailand, where at least nine people were killed in the capital, Bangkok, according to local authorities.

The National Guard is being deployed as residents across the United States began to assess the fallout from dozens of tornadoes, wildfires, and dust storms that left at least 42 people dead and hundreds of decimated buildings in their wake over the weekend.

At least 40 people have died after tornadoes ripped through a swathe of the US Midwest and South.

Missouri bore the brunt of the twisters, which began to spawn on Friday. At least 12 people have died in that state.

Powerful winds in Texas and Kansas whipped up dust storms that resulted in vehicle pile-ups and a dozen deaths.

President Donald Trump on Sunday sent the National Guard to tornado-struck Arkansas after tornadoes and heavy winds ripped through multiple states over the weekend, leaving at least 37 dead.

Heavy winds tore through the Heartland on Saturday, threatening Missouri, Mississippi, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma with tornadoes, damaging buildings and homes. Northern states, including South Dakota and Minnesota, faced blizzard warnings.

Crammed into their two-door Toyota Celica with three huskies, Hailey Hart and her fiance Steve Romero hugged and prayed as a tornado rolled the car upside down before tossing it on its wheels again.

They heard screams for help minutes after the twister ripped apart their home in Tylertown, Mississippi. “It was a bad dream come true,” Romero said.