Sydney recorded its wettest year in 164 years as authorities braced for major floods in Australia’s east on Thursday, with more heavy downpours expected to fall over the next three days.

With almost three months of 2022 still to go, Australia’s largest city has recorded 2,200 mm of rain in a year for the first time since records began in 1858.

By Thursday afternoon, Sydney had received about 2,213 mm (87 inches) of rainfall for the year, surpassing the previous record of 2,194 mm set in 1950, official data showed.

More than 58 mm fell over five hours since 9am local time (2200 GMT, Wednesday), the Bureau of Meteorology’s (BoM) live data showed.

More downpours are forecast for the rest of 2022, as Australia’s east coast remains in the grip of a rare third straight year of the La Nina weather phenomenon.

During the past two years, floods have struck Sydney’s suburbs three times, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.

With a wild weather system expected to dump heavy rains through the weekend across a wide swathe of Australia’s east, authorities warned Sydney residents to watch out for flash flooding and stay away from flooded roads.

Many dams and rivers are already at full capacity. The New South Wales state government has committed to raising the height of the wall at Sydney’s Warragamba Dam, which supplies 80% of the city’s water, to help prevent future floods.

A US astronaut has become the first Native American woman in space following a NASA launch.

Marine Colonel Nicole Mann, 45, is one of four astronauts who blasted off from Florida at midday bound for the International Space Station (ISS).

The SpaceX Falcon rocket put them on a path to catch the orbiting outpost in about 29 hours’ time.

Col Mann told the BBC that she hoped the mission would inspire future generations of Native Americans.

“[I hope it] will inspire young Native American children to follow their dreams and realise that some of those barriers that are there or used to be there are being broken down,” she said.

“Anytime we are able to do something that is a first, or wasn’t done in the past, it’s so important,” she added. “They have these opportunities.”

A registered member of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, Col Mann has extensive experience flying a variety of aircraft for the US Marine Corps. She has been awarded six medals for her service and has deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tribes have long reported societal discrimination resulting in economic hardship and underfunding of their schools. In 2017, only 27% of Native Americans attained an associate degree or higher compared to 54% of white students, according to the US National Centre for Education Statistics.

An organisation has been appointed to carry out research on the long-term future of the Mourne Mountains.

The Department of Finance has appointed The James Hutton Institute from Scotland to carry out the work over the next three months.

They plan to host sessions to gather information from various groups who live or work on the mountains.

The research will focus on proposals to protect and enhance the area.

“Everyone recognises that it is a unique asset here in Ireland and it needs to be protected,” said Finance Minister Conor Murphy.

“But also there’s a community who lives here, there’s a community that farms here, there’s a community that does business here. And we need all of those various aspects together to develop a plan which everyone agrees on which is in the best interests of this beautiful area”.

The researchers will work with the department’s innovation lab.

The Donga river basin forests are located on the slopes and at the foot of the Mambilla Plateau, south-west of Gashaka-Gumti National Park.

The area is lowland forest beside the Donga river, south of Buru village and about 10 km from the border with Cameroon.

The terrain is hilly and rocky and houses over 190 bird species, Dominant tree species include Brachystegia sp, Khaya grandifoliola, Erythrophleum guineensis, Tetrapleura tetraptera, Pterygota macrocarpa, Cleistopholis patens and Garcinia kola.

Amongst the many species of lianas present are Entada pursaetha, Laccosperma opacum and Piper guineense. Rainfall is heavy and persistent due to the influence of the neighboring Mambilla Plateau and the Cameroon mountains.

Donga river basin forests include Baissa, Amboi and Bissaula River Forest Reserves as well as some areas of unprotected forests near the villages of Akwabe and Akoforo.

The Roman Bridge, sometimes referred to as the Big Bridge or the Puente Vieyu, is a historic bridge that has a unique humpback shape, and it is located over the Sella River in the Municipality of Cangas de Onís, which is part of the Principality of Asturias, within the Kingdom of Spain.

Being one of the most recognizable monumental symbols of the municipality, it is considered to be dating from the Middle Ages, even though there are some sources which suggest that it might have existed during Roman times.

Nowadays it is a bit certain that the bridge might have been constructed between 14 and 15 century, even though there are no clear sources which will indicate this.

Nevertheless, the graceful and impressive outline follows somewhat a Romanesque style in transition to a Gothic one, with three slightly pointed arches.

The central one is the largest one of the three and almost entirely crosses the river due to the broad span, but the other two vary in size.

The impressive structure is constructed entirely from stone, which makes it an excellent masonry work because it has endured the weather conditions and seismic activities, and it still stands strong after so many centuries.

All in all, a great architectural gem from Asturias that will continue to amaze people as they continue to discover it.