More than half of Europe is now under a warning for drought that is on course to become its worst in 500 years as Germany’s most-important river is running dry.
The latest European Drought Observatory data, published today, shows that a total of sixty-four percent of the land in the EU and United Kingdom is now under a drought warning or alert.
According to the latest map of the Combined Drought Indicator, which is based on July data, 47 per cent of the territory is in ‘warning’ conditions which means there is a deficit of moisture in the soil, and 17 per cent is in alert conditions where vegetation is stressed.
It is evident that places in the UK are suffering the worst drought. However, the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology expects rivers to flow below average until October.
This news is coming as Rhine water levels are so low it may be impossible to pass barges by the end of this week. It could also threaten vital oil- and coal supplies.
Wildfires are also spreading again throughout France, torching an area that was already badly-hit as temperatures soared to record levels last month, and there have also been fears food production will fall well below average.
Experts warn that almost half of EU’s land could be in drought. This is due to a mix of heatwaves, lack of rainfall and an ‘widely and persistent’ lack. This map shows which countries are most at-risk. Areas in orange are under ‘warning’ conditions, while 15 per cent of land has moved into the most severe ‘alert’ state (shown in red)
Germany’s most important waterway, the Rhine River is at such low levels that barges may not be able to cross it. This could lead to huge economic losses.
Transport vessels pass the Rhine River in Bingen Germany as part of ongoing droughts.
Due to the drought in Nijmegen in the Netherlands, house boats have been perched along a dry side channel of Waal River.
Boat houses are seen on the banks of the Waal River in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, as Europe suffered through a drought
Europe has seen lower-than-average rainfall for the past two months, with rivers across the continent – including in Nijmegen, the Netherlands (pictured) – running very low
Droughts not only affect Germany; Spain, Portugal and most parts of Italy also suffer from them.
Water levels have been falling in the Rhine, as well as other German rivers, due to continued hot weather and a lack of rainfall
Barges navigate the Waal river amid the ongoing drought and the recurring heat waves which have cut operation capacities by half along the lower Rhine
Now, 80 per cent of Germany’s goods are transported via water. The Rhine is the main conduit for this transport. As Russia cuts off gas, it may become impossible to pass barges on the Rhine.
Source of Thames DRIES UP For the First Time
With parts of the UK experiencing the driest conditions since the drought of 1976, experts have warned that the source of the River Thames has dried up for the first time on record.
The source of the river was originally just outside Cirencester, according to The Rivers Trust.
After a prolonged period of dry weather it has now moved more than five miles downstream to Somerford Keynes.
The Met Office warned of “very little meaningful rainfall” on the horizon, which is worrying. Conditions are so severe that at 5pm this morning, a ban on hosepipes will be in effect for one million residents of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
The Rivers Trust director Rob Collins spoke to The Guardian. He explained that the Thames source in Gloucestershire had dried up due to prolonged dryness. A weak flow is now barely discernible 5 miles downstream at Somerford Keynes.
“Under the changing climate, we can predict that droughts and water shortages will become more frequent and severe. This could lead to increased competition for water resources and potentially devastating effects on aquatic life.
According to the Met Office, there will be very little rain in dry areas. Temperatures are expected to rise into the 30s by next week.
Although it may be another heatwave when the temperatures rise above average for 3 days or more, it is unlikely that it will mean conditions are much lower than those experienced last month at 40C (104F).
Now, the river is lower than when it was in 2018 during Europe’s last severe drought. In 2018, the river was almost shut down for 132 consecutive days. As barges are unable to keep afloat, the cost of transporting goods via river has already increased fivefold.
According to economists, the disruption could reduce Germany’s economic growth by half a point. Experts warned that Germany was already in recession because of an energy crisis.
Andrea Toreti (senior researcher, European Commission Joint Research Centre) stated: “We haven’t fully analysed.” [this]Event, however, based upon my experiences I believe that this may be even more extreme than 2018.
“2018 was an extreme event. Looking back over the list for 500 years shows that there have been no similar events.”
Copernicus is the EU’s climate agency. It stated that Monday was a dry month in Europe. There were fewer rainfalls than average and soil moisture levels well below average. (See below).
“The moist conditions began the month with dry conditions, after a dryer-than-average June. This was due to conditions in Europe’s northern Balkans, east Europe, Italy, most of Iberian Peninsula and Russia’s north-western Russia.
According to it, in the months leading to July’s heatwave they’ had repeatedly warned about increased fire danger from the absence of rain and the dry vegetation that results.
The so-called Landiras fire in Gironde, near Bordeaux on Tuesday has destroyed 15,000 acres pine forest and caused the evacuation of nearly 6,000 people.
The prefecture stated that the fire was extremely destructive and had spread to Landes department, further south. Landes de Gascogne Regional Park is located there. 500 firefighters were called in by Gironde’s wine-growing Gironde local authorities.
Prefecture alerted that the flames were spreading towards the A63 motorway. This is a vital artery connecting Bordeaux and Spain.
The speed limit on the highway has been decreased to 55 mph to prevent smoke from obscuring the view. A full closure of the road could also be requested if it continues spreading.
Landiras was the biggest of many fires this year that broke out in July. The region, just like Europe in general, had been hit hard by drought records and heat waves during the past two-months.
Other parts of the country were experiencing fires on Tuesday.
In the south, Lozere and Aveyron saw one of the fires break out. Close to 600 hectares were already burned and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin was due to visit the area later that day.
Local authorities say another fire is raging in Maine et Loire, western France. There, 1,600 acres are burned, and 500 more are at risk.
CNN reported that food production is also under threat in Europe due to rising costs and increased heat from the Ukraine war. In a report, The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, its science service, stated that production of soybeans, corn maize and sunflowers would drop by between 8-9 percent, which is well below the average five-year period. This was due to the extreme heat.
Freja Vamborg (Coopernicus Senior Scientist) stated that dry conditions, combined with low temperatures and precipitation rates in some areas of July can have adverse effects upon agricultural production.
Many of Europe’s main waterways have been turned into a torrential mess by weeks of dry weather. This has created problems for power plants and factories that depend on shipping to deliver their goods.
“This is especially true for the Rhine. The Rhine’s nautical bottleneck at Kaub has low water levels, but it remains navigable for small ships,” said Tim Alexandrin of Germany’s Transport Ministry.
The authorities predict that the water level at Kaub will drop below the 40cm mark early Friday, and continue to fall over the weekend.
Although this distance is higher than that of 27 cm in October 2018, large ships may have difficulty passing through the spot. This location lies approximately midway between Mainz, Koblenz and the Rhine.
Christian Lorenz, a spokesperson for HGK said that the situation was quite dramatic but not nearly as dramatic as 2018.
He said that the current water vessels carrying salt from Heilbronn to Cologne, which would typically carry 2200 tonnes of cargo, are unable to transport 600 tonnes due to a lack of capacity.
“Of course, we hope shipping will not be halted. But we saw that in 2018, when water levels were very low, gas stations had to stop selling fuel, because ships could no longer pass through,” said Mr Lorenz.
According to Mr Alexandrin (spokesman for the Transport Ministry), authorities are making efforts to move more freight onto rail networks and, if needed, giving priority to it.
HGK, along with other shipping companies, are preparing to face a “new normal” in which lower levels, such as this year’s, will become more frequent as global warming causes droughts that sap water from the North Sea and Swiss Alps.
“There is no disputing climate change, and the industry adapts to it,” said Lorenz.
The Rhine could be so deep that some vessels were placed far beneath the ground where pedestrians walk. The riverbed was littered with rocks and signs warning of dangerously high water levels.
This is another problem for Europe’s largest economy. After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Europe has been struggling with high inflation, disruptions to supply chains, and rising prices.
View from the air of La Sorrueda reservoir, Santa Lucia de Tirajana. It is 10% of its maximum capacity.
As the Sau Reservoir rises out of the lower waters, people walk around the remnants of Sant Roma de Sau. It is north of Barcelona.
One village in Portugal has been resurrected from the depths of the sea with its intact stony foundations as a result the drought.
A view from the air of people boating between Vilarinho da Furna, a partially submerged village during summer.
As the Sau Reservoir rises out of the shallow waters, people walk among the remains of Sant Roma de Sau, north Barcelona.
One boy strolls along the Waal River, Netherlands. The river has experienced water levels dropping significantly during the heatwave.
The Guadiana river’s dry bed is used to provide water for a sheep during severe droughts in Villarta de los Montes.
A sheep searches for something to graze in severe drought conditions in Cijara reservoir in Villarta de los Montes (Spanish).
Montenegrin firefighters fill an army helicopter bucket filled with water from an unreserved pool. This helps extinguish forest fires in Boka Bay, Montenegro, as part of a heatwave.
From the Buendia Reservoir, Sacedon (Spain), the remains of La Isabela’s bathhouse are visible.
A sheep lies on the dried bed of the Guadiana river during a severe drought in the Cijara reservoir, in Villarta de los Montes
Droughts have not just affected Germany. Spain, Portugal, Portugal, and the majority of Italy are also suffering. Ministers are imposing water restrictions in an emergency.
The European Drought Observatory said 15 per cent of the bloc is on red alert due to crops suffering from ‘severe water deficiency.’
95 French regions have implemented hosepipe bans. While 62 French regions are currently at a crisis’ level, which allows only water for basic needs, 62 French regions do not allow hosepipe use.
More than 100 French villages have no access to running water, and special deliveries are available.
Andalusia has been described as one of Europe’s hottest regions. Waterslides and paddle boats are found abandoned in Vinuela reservoir’s cracked bed. It is currently 87 per cent full.
Due to prolonged drought and intense heat, July was the hottest month since 1961. According to official data, Spanish reservoirs were at only 40% of their capacity in early August. That’s well below the average spanish level of 60% for the past 10 years.
A flooded Portuguese village from the 1st century is now resurfacing, its stone foundations intact thanks to the drought.
Vilarinho da Furna was a northern Portuguese village in Braga that the state intentionally submerged in 1971 in order to construct a reservoir on the Homem River.
Each summer the abandoned village comes back to life and attracts tourists and locals who walk along the ruinous ruins which were submerged for fifty years.
Due to Europe’s scorching heat this summer, however, this year more of the village was discovered.
According to locals, 70% of former granite homes are visible now.
The guardian of Vilarinho da Furna, António Barroso, told Renascença that: ‘Since 2009, the water has not gone down as it is now.’
A unique social system was created in the village that allowed each member of the family to be a part of the Junta, a communitarian council.
This practice was believed to have originated in Visigoths. It involved six-month service by the Junta leader, who would then be selected from the married village men.
To maintain a self-sustaining community, the Junta will discuss local issues like harvesting, transport and trapping wolves.
Additionally, the Junta is responsible for the adjudication of crimes and the imposing of punishments. If this happens, Vilarinho da Furna could be expelled. They would then not enjoy the benefits of communitarian society.
300 residents used to live in the village, but they were eventually forced to move to nearby towns.
The Geresian family of 57 left their stone houses the way they were before the waters drained them.
Although there was resistance from the villager population to the dam, they could not stop the government offering them compensation for forced relocation.
The village is accessible via a dirt road, which also takes you to the three rivers beaches of the Association of Former Inhabitants of Vilarinho da Furna.
Authorities have managed to clear the structures that were normally covered in the reservoir and the standing pillars during drought.
AFURNA will charge entrance fee to the village for the summer to preserve it from crowds that could damage the buildings.
Barroso is the guardian at the village of 77 years old and oversees two thousand hectares.
Un Montenegrin army helicopter extinguishes a forestfire today during a heatwave over Boka Bay in Montenegro.
France: Officials said Wednesday that a wildfire which destroyed thousands of acres in tinder-dry forests in south France had flared up again due to a severe drought and the latest heat wave. Pictured: The front of a wildfire is seen in Saint Magne, in the Gironde region of southwestern France, on Tuesday. As the smoke rises, you can see a small village in the background
On Tuesday the Landiras Fire has destroyed 15,000 acres of pine forests and forced nearly 6,000 people to flee an area hit by large fires in August. Although no one was injured along the coast that attracts large summer tourist crowds, 16 homes were damaged near Belin-Beliet.
Pictured: Smoke rises from a forest fire near the town of Romeyer in the Diois massif located in the Drôme department and at the foot of the Vercors massif, Tuesday
Pictured: As smoke rises in the air, a firefighting aircraft sprays chemicals to fight fires over a French forest.
Wildfire caused no injury in The Netherlands. However, authorities reported that the main road to the coast was closed by the provincial government. This province has been thronged with tourists during the summer.
Pictured: Blackened earth is seen from above in The Netherlands after a wildfire spread through near the Brouwersdam area
The photograph was taken at Saint-Magne in southwestern France. It shows the grass recovering from a wildfire.
