Torrential rain and severe flooding struck Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, prompting authorities to suspend afternoon classes across all public and private schools, training institutions, and universities. The Tunis Governorate cited warnings from the National Institute of Meteorology and recommendations from the regional disaster-prevention committee in ordering the closures, as forecasters predicted between 30 and 50 millimetres of rain across Greater Tunis within a short window — an amount the city's drainage systems were unable to absorb.

The impact on daily life was immediate and widespread. Water rapidly submerged roads and pavements, leaving residents to wade through flooded streets while cars and buses struggled to move. At least one vehicle was trapped beneath a tunnel. In the city's historic medina — a UNESCO-listed old quarter of narrow, winding lanes — residents sheltered in shops and under awnings as torrents rushed through the ancient passageways. Beyond transport disruption, the storm caused power and internet outages and sent water into homes. Footage circulating on social media appeared to show power lines catching fire amid the downpour.

The storm arrives after a summer marked by prolonged and intense heatwaves, a pattern that urban infrastructure experts increasingly link to more destructive flooding: baked, hardened ground and heat-stressed drainage systems are less capable of managing sudden heavy rainfall. Tunisia has experienced repeated flooding episodes over the past year. In January, the country recorded its heaviest rainfall in more than seven decades, and at least five people died as a result.

The recurring cycle of extreme heat followed by extreme rainfall is placing growing strain on Tunis's ageing infrastructure. The latest floods underscore the vulnerability of the capital — home to roughly 2.7 million people in its greater metropolitan area — to the kind of intense, short-duration precipitation events that climate scientists say are becoming more frequent across North Africa and the broader Mediterranean region.