A report by the European Commission’s science and knowledge service says nearly half of Europe is threatened by drought.

The report said as of August 10, 47 per cent of Europe’s territory had reached a warning level for drought, while 17 per cent of surveyed regions were on full alert.

Researchers said dry conditions were related to scarce rain and heatwaves from May onwards that had affected river discharges widely across Europe.

Reduced water volumes have also adversely affected the energy sector for hydropower generation and other power plants’ cooling systems.

The researchers said the drought has substantially reduced yields for summer crop harvests, with corn, soybeans and sunflowers most affected.

“Soil moisture and vegetation stress are both severely affected,” the report said, listing over a dozen countries where drought hazard has been increasing, including Germany, France and Britain. “The rest of Europe, already affected by drought, maintains stable severely dry conditions.”

According to the report, regions where conditions are worsening the most are those already affected by drought in spring 2022, for example, northern Italy, south-eastern France, and some areas in Hungary and Romania.

Researchers are forecasting that warmer and drier conditions are likely until November in the western Euro-Mediterranean region.

“Recent precipitation (mid-August) may have alleviated drought conditions in some regions of Europe. However, in some areas, associated thunderstorms caused damages, losses and may have limited the beneficial effects of precipitation,” the experts said.

(dpa/NAN)