Drought Threatens 60% Of EU And UK: 'Critical Situation'

Drought threatens 60% of EU and U.K. as Europe faces "critical situation"

• Rebecca Falconer
• Andrew Freedman

Drought conditions are affecting about 60% of the EU and the U.K., exacerbated by climate-change driven record heat across Europe this summer, according to new research from the European Drought Observatory.

Why it matters: France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands are facing water shortages and riverbeds are drying out across Europe. Dry conditions are severely affecting energy production, agriculture and river transportation.

There is an "increased fire danger due to the lack of rain and the resulting dry vegetation, combined with high temperatures," the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service notes — as wildfires continue to burnacross Europe.

In southwest France, a blaze burning in Gironde since July roared back to life, forcing the evacuation of nearly 6,000 people on Wednesday, per France 24.

Meanwhile, many European countries are expected to see continued dry conditions in August and September, adding "to the already very critical situation," noted the European Commission's European Drought Observatory in July. 

• This would "exacerbate drought severity and the impacts on agriculture, energy and water supply," the Observatory said.

The big picture: The European Drought Observatory examined data over a 10-day period toward the end of July and discovered that 45% of the EU's territory was under drought warning conditions by the middle of the month, while 15% was on "red alert" and in severe water deficiency.

In the United Kingdom, where Met Office data shows the English regions of East Anglia, the southeast and the south faced their driest ever July as a historic heat wave struck, the U.K. Center for Ecology and Hydrology warneddrought conditions were likely to remain until October.

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