Climate activist Greta Thunberg spoke defiantly about her mission outside court Thursday on the first day of her trial for refusing to leave a protest that blocked the entrance to a major oil and gas industry conference in London last year.

Thunberg, 21, was among more than two dozen protesters arrested on Oct. 17 after preventing access to a hotel during the Energy Intelligence Forum, attended by some of the industry's top executives.

More storms, rising seas and huge waves are taking their toll on California's iconic piers that have dotted the Pacific coast since the Gold Rush, posing the biggest threat yet to the beach landmarks that have become a quintessential part of the landscape.

At least a half dozen public piers are closed after being damaged repeatedly by storms over the past two years. Repair costs have climbed into the millions of dollars.

Much of Alaska has plunged into a deep freeze, with temperatures well below zero. Anchorage has seen some of its coldest temperatures in years and the mayor opened warming facilities for people who are homeless or don't have reliable heating.

To the south in the state capital, Juneau, snow blanketed streets and rooftops as part of a two-day storm that helped set a new January snowfall record of 6.4 feet (2 meters) for the city, which is nestled in a relatively temperate rainforest. That's after back-to-back storms walloped Juneau earlier in the month.

Spain's northeastern Catalonia region declared a drought emergency Thursday for Barcelona and the area surrounding the port city, which will now face tighter water restrictions following three years without significant rain.

The head of the regional government of Catalonia, Pere Aragones, announced the step after reservoirs in the Mediterranean region fell below 16 percent of their capacity, the benchmark set by the authorities for the application of a new round of water-saving measures that will affect some six million people.

Norway's central Atlantic coast battened down on Wednesday as authorities warned that the country could see its most powerful storm in three decades and urged people to stay indoors.

Hurricane-force winds were expected to hit the region, as air traffic companies and ferry lines predicted disruptions. Police warned that gusts of 126 to 180 kilometers per hour (78 to 112 miles per hour) were expected.

Residents were evacuated from small coastal towns near Cape Town in South Africa as wildfires swept down from surrounding mountains and burned out of control for a second day on Tuesday.

Authorities ordered a full evacuation of Pringle Bay, a coastal village popular with holidaymakers about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Cape Town. People evacuated parts of the nearby town of Betty's Bay on Monday.

Barcelona and its surrounding in northeastern Spain's Catalonia region are preparing for tighter water restrictions amid a historic drought that has shrunk reservoirs to record lows.

Catalan authorities are expected to declare a drought emergency Thursday for an area that is home to 6 million people after water reserves fell below 16% of their capacity, the benchmark set for the application of a new round of water-saving measures.

Spain's weather agency says recent abnormally high temperatures for this time of year are set to continue in many parts of Spain on Friday and over the weekend. The hot spell has led to an almost summer-like feeling in many coastal areas as people take to the beaches to sunbathe, and some have a winter swim.

The country's AEMET weather agency said the high temperatures affecting southern Europe are due to an anticyclone carrying a hot air mass from further south. It said that the lack of cloud cover also led to increased temperatures.

The groundwater that supplies farms, homes, industries and cities is being depleted across the world, and in many places faster than in the past 40 years, according to a new study that calls for urgency in addressing the depletion.

The declines were most notable in dry regions with extensive cropland, said researchers whose work was published Wednesday in the journal Nature. On the plus side: they found several examples of aquifers that were helped to recover by changes in policy or water management, they said.

Colombia's government has declared a disaster and asked for international help to combat raging wildfires that are expected to worsen in coming days due to warm, dry conditions associated with the El Niño weather phenomenon.

Officials raised the number of fires from 25 to 31, and said nine of them were under control. They did not order mandatory evacuations despite some fires burning in the mountains that surround some municipalities.