Heat in Spain, drought in France and Italy: temperatures in southern Europe climb to over 30 degrees in some places, and there is no rain – with consequences.
Munich – While the weather in Germany is gradually clearing up and spring shows its first rays of sunshine in March, Spain is already in the midst of summer. It’s supposed to be really hot, especially on the Mediterranean – as hot as it usually is in June or July.
Weather experts assume a heat record in March, temperatures around 30 degrees are possible. What sounds like a beach vacation to many can, however, have devastating consequences. The temperatures are clearly too warm for this time of year – also in other parts of the country. Not long ago, there was snow chaos on the holiday island of Mallorca.
Heat weather in Spain: water shortage threatens to worsen
Since the precipitation was too low in autumn and winter, the water shortage threatens to worsen in summer. This not only increases the risk of forest fires. The reservoirs are currently only a little over 40 percent full on average, the reported German Press Agency (dpa). For comparison: in previous years, the reservoirs were on average 58 percent full at this time of year.
The situation is particularly dramatic in Andalusia and Catalonia. While the reservoirs here are only a quarter full, water consumption in agriculture and industry is already being restricted in the tourist metropolis of Barcelona. If there is still no rain, the head of the regional water authority, Samuel Reyes, expects restrictions on private drinking water consumption from autumn, as he told the newspaper El País said.
Weather: Drought in France and Italy – “Major threat to water reserves”
The situation is similar in France and Italy. The lack of rain in recent months is noticeable. Dry and wet winters balance each other out over a longer period of time, explained Peter Bissolli, meteorologist at the German Weather Service (DWD). Utopia. However, dry winters have been more frequent in Italy since 1989. In 2022, Lake Garda in Italy was already struggling with severe water shortages.
“The absence of rain for more than 30 days in France is a major threat to our water reserves this summer,” said government spokesman Olivier Véran in early March. Therefore, some regions of France have already imposed restrictions on water use. For example, watering gardens and sports stadiums, filling swimming pools and washing cars have all been banned.
That could lead to “serious water restrictions” for the people living there. If enough rain falls in the spring, this could even out. “But the starting position is less favorable than usual,” said Bissolli. However, one cannot yet speak of a drought in Germany, the weather expert explained. Initial forecasts show that the summer of 2023 in Germany is likely to be relatively hot again.
Weather in Germany: “Summers are getting drier, winters are getting wetter”
“The trend in Germany is that it is getting warmer in all seasons, the summers are getting drier and the winters are getting wetter. The main problem, however, are extreme events such as the Ahr valley flood in 2021, but also temperature records from time to time,” said Bissolli.
For years, the climate in large parts of Europe has been getting hotter and drier. This is largely due to man-made climate change. Last summer was already characterized by heat and extreme drought. With peak temperatures of more than 40 degrees in some cases, it was one of the hottest since weather records began in Spain. (kas/dpa)
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