By a widely accepted definition, a cloudburst means more than 100 mm of rainfall in one hour, over a small area.

Cloudbursts are causing chaos in mountainous parts of India and Pakistan, with tremendous amounts of rain falling in a short period of time over a concentrated area. The intense, sudden deluges have proved fatal in both countries.

The sudden and intense weather event is almost impossible to forecast and often leads to deadly flash-flooding and landslides