Record drought in Europe: more than half of soils affected

Drought continued to be exceptionally severe in early August in Europe and around the Mediterranean, with more than half (51.3%) of soils affected, according to AFP's analysis on Monday of the latest data from the European Drought Observatory (EDO). Such a high rate had never been recorded for the period from August 1 to 10 since observations began in 2012. Since mid-April, around half of this area has been affected by drought, an episode exceeding in severity the severe drought of summer 2022.

The drought indicator of the European Copernicus program observatory, based on satellite observations, combines precipitation levels, soil moisture and vegetation condition. It breaks down into three drought levels: monitoring, warning and alert. At the beginning of August, 7.8% of Europe and the Mediterranean were in a state of alert, the most serious level, 38.7% in warning, and 4.9% in surveillance. The Caucasus and northern Balkans are the regions most affected by the drought.

Georgia and Armenia are affected by drought over 97% of their territory, as are Bulgaria and Kosovo, while Serbia, Northern Macedonia, Albania, Hungary and Montenegro all have at least three quarters of their area under warning or alert.

This part of Europe was hit by heat waves in July and August, leading to numerous forest fires, some of them fatal (one fatality in Montenegro, one in Albania). Spain, Portugal and Italy, which were also hit by violent fires at the beginning of the month, are now only locally affected by the drought. In the UK (69.5%) and France (63%), the EDO considers a much larger area to be affected.