Such scenes were rare in midsummer, but in early March they are unprecedented. Lac de Montbel in southwestern France is 80% dry, and the boats of the local sailing club are stranded on its parched brown shores.
In northern Italy, tourists can walk to the small island of San Biagio, which is usually only accessible by boat, from the shores of Lake Garda, where the water level is 70 cm lower than average. In the Alps, there is 63% less snow than usual.
In Germany, the shallow waters of the Rhine are already disrupting barge traffic, forcing boats bound for central Europe to half load, and in Catalonia, which has been without water for three years, Barcelona has stopped watering its parks.
After its driest summer in 500 years, much of Europe is in the grip of a winter drought brought on by a worsening climate, raising concerns among governments about water security for homes, farmers and factories across the continent.
A study published in January by Austria’s Graz University of Technology, whose scientists used satellite data to analyze groundwater supplies, concluded that Europe has been suffering a drought since 2018 and the water situation is now “very uncertain”.
“I would never have imagined that water would be a problem here in Europe, especially in Germany or Austria. We actually have water supply problems here. We have to think about that,” explains one of the researchers, Torsten Meyer-Guer, as quoted by The Guardian .
The World Meteorological Organization said last year drought in the northern hemisphere was at least 20 times more likely due to human-caused climate change, warning that such extreme periods will become more common with global warming .
“What is unusual is the repetition of these events because we already experienced a severe to extreme drought a year ago and another one in 2018,” Andrea Toretti, senior scientist at the European Drought Observatory, told Euronews. “It is clear that in some parts of Europe the lack of rainfall and current deficits are such that it will not be easy for water levels to recover before the start of summer.”
Experts say the coming months will be crucial.
A map of current droughts in Europe from the EU’s Copernicus program shows warnings of low levels of rainfall or soil moisture in areas of northern and southern Spain, northern Italy and southern Germany, with almost all of France affected.
France recently recorded 32 days without significant rainfall, the longest period since records began in 1959, and state forecaster Météo-France said little or no rain was expected until at least the end of the month.
Climatologist Simon Mittelberger says about 75% less rain fell in France last month than usual for February, continuing a year-long trend. Nine of the last 12 months saw rainfall up to 85% below normal, he told France Info news.
The French research center CNRS said that by comparing droughts before 1945 and since 1945, it found that last summer’s drought was caused by anthropogenic climate change, and this winter showed “the same characteristics”.
Local authorities in all seven of the country’s major river basins have been ordered to start imposing water restrictions as the government works on a crisis plan to deal with shortages it says will inevitably lead to “water shortage problems” this year.
Environmental Transition Minister Christophe Bechaux has warned that France will have to cope with up to 40% less water in the coming years, adding that the country is already in a “state of alarm” and restrictions in some areas are fully justified.
“The situation is more serious this year than last year,” says Beshu. People in four southern departments are banned from filling swimming pools or washing their cars, while farmers must cut their water consumption by half.
Echoing the terms he used to describe the energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron this week called for a “sobriety plan” to save water and warned that the “time of plenty” is coming to an end.
“We will all have to be careful,” he said. Among the government’s plans are modernizing agricultural irrigation, which accounts for up to 80% of summer consumption, boosting wastewater recycling and reducing losses due to leakage.
All of Spain has been suffering a drought since January 2022, but Catalonia’s water supply has fallen so low that authorities this week introduced laws including a 40% reduction in water used for agriculture, a 15% reduction for industrial purposes and a reduction in the average daily supply of resident from 250 liters to 230 liters.
Ruben del Campo, spokesman for the state weather agency Aemet, says the situation shows no signs of improving in the coming months. The worst affected areas are the northern third of the country and parts of Andalusia and the southern part of Castilla-La Mancha, he added.
Asked about the role of global warming, Del Campo opined that while drought has always been a natural phenomenon due to Spain’s geographical location, recent decades have seen a change.
“We noticed that the droughts in the south of Spain last longer and that when the rains come, they are shorter but more intense,” he explains. “It’s poorly distributed. When the rains are heavy, they’re less useful for refilling reservoirs and irrigating fields that need less rain.”
In January, Spain’s Environment Minister Teresa Ribera warned of the imminent reality of a climate emergency, saying the country must be prepared for “much longer cycles of extreme drought and periods of incredibly strong flooding”.
The average amount of water available has declined by 12% since 1980, Ribera noted, and projections suggest a further decline of between 14% and 40% by 2050. “We cannot rely solely on rain when it comes to ensuring water supplies drinking water or water for economic purposes,” she adds.
Spain’s Socialist-led government in January approved a €23 billion plan to protect and improve water supplies by investing in areas including infrastructure, water treatment and purification, irrigation modernization and flood risk management.
The government in Italy is reportedly preparing to set up a task force including a “super commissioner” and officials from several ministries to deal with the effects of the severe drought that is already beginning to affect agriculture.
Water levels in the Po, the country’s longest river that feeds several northern and central regions, were 61% below normal for February. While recent rains have eased some tensions, Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Picheto warned last week that some areas may need to distribute water.
“The drought problem is serious,” he told Corriere della Sera. “We only had half of the average amount of snow. We found ourselves with waterways, lakes and reservoirs in very critical condition and hydroelectric basins in an extremely difficult situation.”
Italy’s National Research Council (CNR) said last month that rainfall in the north was 40% below average in 2022, adding that the lack of rainfall since early 2023 had been “significant”.
Leading meteorologist Luca Mercalli said Italy would only avoid a repeat of last summer’s extreme drought if there was heavy rainfall in the spring. “This is the last hope,” he believes. “If we don’t have spring rain for two years in a row, this will be the first time that’s happened.”
In Central and Northern Europe, the lack of precipitation so far has mainly been observed in the Alpine regions, where skiers are faced with snowless ski slopes.
In Austria’s Tyrol province, for example, the cities of Landeck and Reutte experienced their driest winter on record, while in parts of Switzerland municipalities had to once again urge citizens to save water after already doing so last summer.
But scientists warn that the impact of the winter drought is most likely to be felt in low-lying areas of Germany and Austria in the coming months: less snow in winter means less meltwater to feed the rivers of central Europe in the coming months. the warm months.
“Today’s snow deficit could potentially turn into a summer drought tomorrow,” said Manuela Bruner, professor of hydrology and climate impacts at ETH Zurich.
Meteorologist Josef Eitzinger of the Vienna Institute of Meteorology and Climatology told dpa: “If the weather this spring is similar to that of 2022, the dryness will increase significantly.”
He pointed to historically low water levels in Lake Neusiedl, a key water source crossing the border between Austria and Hungary.
