Europe is experiencing what may be its worst drought in 500 years, with river flows down by around a third on average. The drought, which is likely to have been intensified by global warming, is having a serious effect on food production and river transport at a time when there is already a food crisis and soaring energy costs due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In much of Europe, rainfall was lower than usual leading up to summer, and there has been no significant rainfall in many areas since. There have also been above-average temperatures and record-breaking heatwaves, with the UK hitting 40藲C (104藲F) for the first time. The result is parched soil and falling water levels in rivers, dams and lakes.
鈥淲hat we see this summer is a聽compound event, when two or聽more climate hazards occur simultaneously or sequentially, in聽this case hydrological drought and heatwaves,鈥� says Dominic Roy茅 at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
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Roy茅 has mapped how river levels in Europe . Overall, river flows are down 29聽per cent, with some down 62聽per cent. Only in a few places, such as northern Scandinavia, are聽river flows above normal.
It could be the worst drought in Europe in 500 years, Andrea Toreti of the European Commission鈥檚 Joint Research Centre . 鈥淭here were no other events in the past 500 [years] similar to the drought of 2018,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut this year, I think, is worse.鈥�
Global warming is very likely to聽be partly to blame, making the heatwaves hotter than they would otherwise have been. Climate change has weakened the jet stream that brings Atlantic moisture to Europe, making severe droughts of this kind more聽likely, according to Peter Hoffmann at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, reported .
The drought is affecting food yields, energy production and wildlife, among other things. The impact on crops varies, but rice production in Italy has been badly hit, with some farmers predicting . Livestock farmers, meanwhile, are having to feed animals that would normally be grazing. All this means that food prices, which are already at record levels, are likely to rise further.
The drought is also making the energy crisis worse. Hydropower generation is and some nuclear plants have been forced to lower their outputs to ensure rivers aren鈥檛 overheated by the cooling water the plants discharge.
Low water levels are affecting the transport of coal, oil and other聽goods down rivers like the Rhine, where barges have been forced to聽carry less than usual so聽they don鈥檛 hit the riverbed. Water levels聽in parts of the Rhine could聽fall so low that barges stop operating altogether.
Rain is forecast for much of Europe in the coming week but . In some places, including England, thunderstorms could produce some local flooding.
鈥淏ut this will in no way correct weeks of dry weather, so most of England will remain in drought,鈥� at the Environment Agency.
