Dried-up lakes, poor snowfall and rising temperatures are defining this year’s winter in Europe.
As per Copernicus climate monitor, this was the third warmest January recorded in Europe.
Now weeks of dry weather, low rain and snowfall have triggered concerns of a winter drought in some parts of the continent including France, Italy, Spain and England.
Let’s take a look at how winter drought is affecting Europe.
Italy’s parched lakes
After dry weather last summer, Italy is again facing the threat of drought this year.
Lakes and rivers, especially in the north of the country, are drying up.
According to the country’s National Research Council, rainfall in the north of Italy was 40 per cent lower than the average last year, reported Euronews.
The low water levels at Lake Garda have exposed a strip of the lake bed, reported CNN.
“I’ve lived here for eighteen years and I’ve never seen the lake so dry. I used to come here by boat, but this time I can walk. It’s pretty bad, let’s hope for some rain” Elena Corban, a local resident, told Reuters.
Italy’s longest river, the Po – which stretches from the Alps in the northwest to the Adriatic – has 61 per cent less water than normal at this time of the year, Italian environmental group Legambiente said this week.
Giorgio Zampetti, director of Legambiente, said in a statement: “2023 has just begun but it’s showing worrying signs in terms of extreme weather events and drought levels”, BBC reported.
Due to diminishing waters, a barge that sunk in the Po River during World War II has resurfaced, Euronews reported.
Last July, Italy announced a state of emergency in five northern regions surrounding the Po, which saw its worst drought in 70 years.
In Venice, the water is too low to allow gondolas, water taxis and ambulances to pass through some of its famous canals.
A number of factors such as lack of rain, a high-pressure system, a full moon and sea currents have been blamed for the current situation in Venice, reported Reuters.
Missing snow in the Alps
Not just rain, Europe is also witnessing a concerning lack of snowfall.
The large swathes of snow that cover the Alps are missing this season.
The Alps have received 63 per cent less snow this winter. AP File Photo
According to CIMA Research Foundation, the Alps have received 63 per cent less snow this winter.
“The situation in the Pyrenees is close to the lowest record of snow quantity for that time of year,” Simon Mittelberger, a climatologist at M?t?o-France, told CNN.
This poses a great risk as snow shortage in the winter can affect water reserves in the spring and summer, noted CNN.
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France’s drought alert
According to France’s national weather agency M?t?o-France, the country has seen a record dry spell for a 32-day period ending 21 February.
This has harmed the country’s rivers, lakes and soils. “Soils are much drier than usual,” Mittelberger told CNN.
This comes as France recorded its hottest year in 2022.
At the start of February, a high drought alert was announced in the department of Bouches-du-Rh?ne in southeast France with an adverse impact on 17 communes, as per Euronews.
The 32-day dry spell in France has affected rivers, lakes and soils. AFP
France’s ecological transition minister has said that “soft” restrictions could be implemented after a meeting with local leaders, which could come into effect in March to avoid “catastrophic conditions” during summer, reported BBC.
Spain’s water woes
Spain is also facing the risk of depleted water supplies.
“We cannot guarantee water supply for drinking water or for economic uses by relying exclusively on rain,” Teresa Ribera, Minister for the Ecological Transition said at a press conference recently, as per CNN.
2022 was the country’s hottest year on record. Extreme mercury and long drought throughout the year plunged reservoirs to critical levels.
Earlier this January, thousands of farmers held protests in Madrid over the government’s plan to cut back the amount of water pulled from the Tagus river for irrigation purposes in the country’s southeast.
Ribera said at the time that restrictions were needed to prepare the country for the effects of climate change.
Since 1980, the average available water has plummeted by 12 per cent in Spain and it is expected to further reduce up to 40 per cent by 2050, according to CNN.
England
Experts have warned that England can experience a severe drought again this year.
As per the National Drought Group, England is “one hot, dry spell” away from a return of severe drought conditions in 2023, The Guardian reported.
Due to low rainfall across the country since January end, 63 per cent of rivers are below normal levels than usual at this time.
Amid the risk of drought in many parts of Europe that make growing conditions unfavourable, supermarkets have already started rationing fresh produce including tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.
Andrea Toreti, a senior scientist at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and coordinator for the Copernicus, European and Global Drought Observatory, told Euronews that the forecast of more dry weather in the planting season has put tens of thousands of crops at risk and efforts are being taken this time to curb the impact.
“In the rice sector, they are testing now new innovative agro-management strategies to basically use the water in a completely different way and avoid having these peaks during the period when also other sectors need water,” Toreti told Euronews. “So adaptation is really crucial.”
Toreti also expressed concern about the unusually dry last two months.
“These conditions were rare in the past, but climate change is altering precipitation regimes over Europe and making these extremes more recurrent and intense,” Toreti was quoted as saying by CNN.
“There is a growing concern due to the lack of precipitation in the last weeks, and also considering the 2022 drought, the coming weeks will be crucial,” the scientist added.
With inputs from agencies
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