Europe's worst drought in decades is affecting households, factories, farmers and transport across the continent, as experts warn that drier winters and hotter summers caused by global warming mean water shortages will become the "new normal".
The European Drought Observatory has calculated that warnings have been sent to as much as 45 percent of the surface of the European Union by mid-July, and 15 are already under red alert, so the European Commission has warned of a "critical" situation in several regions, "The Guardian" writes.
Conditions have since worsened further due to constant heat waves hitting the continent.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Bourne last Sunday activated a crisis unit to fight the drought, which the national meteorological office described as the worst since records began in 1958.
More than 100 French municipalities do not have running drinking water and are supplied by tankers, said Minister for Green Transition Christophe Bechu, adding: "We will have to get used to episodes like this. Adaptation is no longer an option, but an obligation."
As surface soil moisture is the lowest ever recorded, and rainfall in July is 85 percent less than normal, water supply restrictions have been introduced, including irrigation bans in as many as 93 out of 96 departments in France, and a state of crisis has been declared in 62.
And as food prices rise after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, France's agriculture minister has warned that the corn harvest is likely to be 18 percent smaller than last year, and farmers' unions say drought-induced fodder shortages could lead to severe milk shortages in the fall and winter. .
Electricity company EDF last Sunday had to cut production at one of its nuclear reactors in southwestern France due to high temperatures in the Garonne River and issued similar warnings for reactors along the Rhône River.
Spain's water reserves are at an all-time low of 40 percent, falling by 1,5 percent every week due to increased consumption and evaporation, the government said, warning that this is likely to be the driest summer in 60 years.
This country, as the "Guardian" reports, recorded less than half of the expected level of precipitation for this time of year in the last three months, and restrictions were introduced from Catalonia in the northeast to Galicia in the northwest, as well as in western Extremadura and Andalusia in the south.
Most water restrictions are imposed by households, and rural authorities are often reluctant to restrict farmers who often use the already scarce resource illegally, despite the fact that nine-tenths of Spain's water use goes to agriculture.
The post-pandemic resurgence in tourism has also seen spending rise by as much as 10 percent in cities such as Barcelona, where, if rain doesn't fall soon and isn't forecast, restrictions are likely to be introduced next month.
"Studies on climate change warn that droughts will be more intense, more frequent and longer," says Nurija Hernandez-Mora, co-founder of the New Water Culture foundation. "This will become the new normal, and we continue to condone the increased use of resources that we don't have and that are becoming increasingly scarce."
The British paper writes that this year is likely to become the hottest and driest ever recorded in Italy. "I don't know what else we should do to make the climate crisis a political issue," says Luca Mercalli, president of the Italian Meteorological Society.
"There is no data in the last 230 years that would be comparable to the drought and heat we are witnessing this year. We've also had storms ... Those episodes are becoming more frequent and more intense, just as climate reports have predicted over the past 30 years. Why are we still waiting, instead of making it a priority?”
One of the most striking indicators of this crisis is the parched Po River, which has been hit by its worst drought in 70 years. The flow of water in Italy's longest river has dropped to just one-tenth of normal, and the water level is two meters below normal. In early July, the government declared a drought-induced crisis in five northern regions and began restricting drinking water consumption. The villages around Lake Maggiore are supplied by cisterns.
In that region, there has not been a long rainy period since November, which is why rice production in the Po river valley, which accounts for about 40 percent of agricultural production in Italy, is at risk. Farmers warn that 60 percent of the harvest could fail as rice fields dry up and become salty, while record low water levels allow more seawater to enter the delta.
The crisis does not only affect southern Europe. Water levels have dropped to dangerously low levels in the Rhine, a key waterway in northwestern Europe that transports oil, fuel, coal and other raw materials. It connects the industrial center of Germany with the main ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp.
The levels of the Rhine on Monday were already lower than those of the same period in 2018, when a severe drought eventually halted the transport of goods for 132 days. Some vessels operate at only 25 percent capacity due to the risk of stranding, which increases transportation costs.
The drought hit German waterways just as cargo ships were due to carry increased levels of coal for the power plants restarted by Chancellor Olaf Scholz after Russia cut natural gas supplies.
Berlin authorities have noted a drop in water levels in many lakes fed by the Spree River. In the southern city of Nuremberg, dried trees are being watered with water from the city's defunct indoor pools to save gas.
In Switzerland, the dairy industry was the hardest hit: the authorities in Fribourg, Jura and Nechatel had to open the valley meadows that are not used for grazing before September, as the pastures in the higher mountain areas were already too dry.
Dominik de Bouman, head of the Freiburg cheese cooperative, said cheese and milk production would likely be affected. "The fall can be predicted and we can end the tea with a shortage of heaters."
In the canton of Obwalden near Lucerne, the army was called in to transport water by helicopter from Lake Sarnen to thirsty cows in the village of Kerns.
The Netherlands declared an official water shortage last Sunday. The government has not yet introduced restrictions on household consumption, but they have asked citizens to think carefully about whether they need to wash their car or fill their pool to the top.
In Belgium, meteorologists recorded the driest July since 1885. Although a ban has been put in place for farmers to pump water for crops, groundwater levels in Flanders are already extremely low causing peatlands to dry up, raising concerns for game including woodcocks.
Canals and rivers are also in poor condition and local authorities report that many fish have died as the only water left in some canals is industrial or sewage. Thirteen municipalities in the Ardennes have banned people from filling swimming pools.
Scientists say the climate crisis could soon lead to summer droughts becoming more frequent in Western Europe, with episodes of extreme heat that used to occur once a decade occurring every two or three years, unless governments around the world radically reduce emissions of harmful gases.
Bonus video:
