Drought is already severe in northern and eastern Europe
Environment — di Andrea Barolini
Summer is still far off, but from the United Kingdom to Russia, from the Netherlands to Turkey, drought is already taking hold across much of Europe.
Drought is already severe in northern and eastern Europe
Summer is still far off, but from the United Kingdom to Russia, from the Netherlands to Turkey, drought is already taking hold across much of Europe.
Northern and eastern Europe is facing a worrying wave of drought, which is affecting an enormous portion of the continent. The area in which rainfall has been extremely scarce stretches from Greece in the south to Finland in the north, extending across much of Russia and passing through Austria, Poland, Lithuania, Sweden, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Moldova, and reaching as far as Turkey.
Northern Europe's breadbasket relies on steady rainfall, but spring rains are faltering. Latest data shows declining river flows & worsening droughts, threatening food security. 🌾
"A drought that surprises by its duration and extent"
"This is," observed Simon Mittelberger, a climatologist at Meteo France, speaking to the French daily Le Monde, "a drought that surprises by its duration and extent. Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, northern Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom are among the worst-affected nations." In particular, across Danish territory, the scarcity of rainfall between March and April is considered "exceptional": the Scandinavian country's meteorological institute reports a total of 63 millimetres — only seven times since 1874 have worse figures been recorded.
Similarly, in the United Kingdom the spring has been the driest in over a century. The regions of London, Hampshire, Manchester, Lancashire and Yorkshire have experienced consecutive weeks of total rainfall absence. So much so that the UK Environment Agency has called on water companies to take action now to protect reserves, and has issued appeals to the public to limit consumption immediately.
In England and Wales, reserves already at record lows
In England in particular, March was the driest month since 1961, and in April only half the normally expected rainfall fell. As a result, farmers have been forced to begin irrigating their fields ahead of schedule for the season — thereby drawing down reserves that, especially in northern areas, are already at record lows (in some territories, rainfall data are the lowest since 1929). And the first wildfires have already broken out.
In Wales the situation is no brighter, according to the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, with the levels of the rivers Dee, Conwy and Wye already particularly low. Catherine Sefton, a researcher at the institute, explained to the BBC: "Unless rainfall increases significantly in late spring and early summer, we will need to contend with worrying situations regarding reserves, as well as impacts on agriculture."
In Germany, the worst drought since 1931
In the Netherlands, the drought record dating back to 1976 is on the verge of being broken. In March, just 6 millimetres of rain fell against the expected 53, and in April and May, so far, rainfall has been practically non-existent. In Germany, the meteorological service Dwd has reported that a similar situation had not occurred since 1931. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, an agricultural region, the situation is already alarming: "Up to 100 litres of water per square metre are missing across the entire region," declared the local agriculture minister, Till Backhaus.
The UK along with much of NW Europe is now facing extreme drought conditions.
Soil moisture is very low (with the exception of Spain on both counts which has seen record breaking rainfall).
Soil moisture is very low (with the exception of Spain on both counts which has seen record breaking rainfall).
Similarly, in Sweden, the Geological Survey has issued an alert regarding groundwater levels, which are "well below normal for the season and falling rapidly. We cannot say what levels will be reached by the end of summer, as it will depend on rainfall in the coming months, but we can confirm a very poor starting point."
This situation is accompanied, among other things, by diametrically opposite conditions in southern Europe, with numerous rainfall episodes concentrated over Spain, Italy and the south of France.