abstract - The European continent is not spared from natural disasters and a very large number of those are caused by temperate latitude cyclones. The Mediterranean area is among the most affected and a major role in their initiation is held by the Mediterranean cyclones, through the weather phenomena with catastrophic effects they induce many a time. A very large number of the meteo-climatic disasters recorded in Romania, like the abundant rainfalls, followed by floods, the storms and the heavy blizzards, the droughts and in some cases the land slides are tightly connected to the Mediterranean cyclones, especially those evolving retrogradely. The rainy spell of 22 - 27 July 2008 was caused by the activity of a retrograde cyclone of Mediterranean origin, and the disasters it triggered in the east and north-east of the Romanian territory enlist it as one of the strongest, generating one of the rainiest spells ever recorded in Romania.
Key words: Mediterranean retrograde cyclone, floods, meteo-climatic hazard