In Portugal, hydroelectric energy stored in water reservoirs is at half the average of the previous seven years. In Spain, volumes of water stored in reservoirs are currently 31% lower than the 10-year average. The situation is also difficult across the Iberian Peninsula. Similar measures to restrict water use have been taken in France. Drought emergency has been declared in five Italian regions and insufficient water availability has led to multiple use restrictions across municipalities. ![]() In Italy, the Po River basin is facing the highest level of drought severity. Germany, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia are also impacted. France, Romania, Spain, Portugal and Italy will need to deal with this reduced crop yield. Water and heat stress are driving crop yields down from a previously already negative outlook for cereals and other crops. Multiple countries are exposed to very high drought levels This has made it harder for plants to extract water from the soil, leading to widespread stress on vegetation - namely in the Italian lowlands, in southern, central and western France, in central Germany and eastern Hungary, Portugal and in northern Spain. The lack of precipitation means soil water content has reduced significantly. Altogether, this may require extraordinary water and energy management measures to be taken in affected countries. River discharge in multiple countries is severely affected, withstored water volumes also depleted. The drought in much of Europe is critical as the winter-spring precipitation deficit (19% of the 1991-2020 average across all warning areas in EU+UK, and 22% in areas under drought alert) was exacerbated by early heatwaves. ![]() The analysis of the evolution and impact of the prolonged drought in the EU shows that a staggering portion of Europe is currently exposed to warning (44% of EU+UK) and alert (9% of EU+UK) drought levels, associated with soil moisture deficit in combination with vegetation stress.
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