Europe Is Facing a Severe Drought

Drought conditions across Europe (2026), showing areas affected by vegetation stress and soil moisture deficits, highlighting the widespread impacts of increasing heat. Data shown from the Copernicus Emergency Management Service Drought Observatory. 

Legend:

• Yellow (Watch): Rainfall is below normal, showing early signs of drought.  
• Orange (Warning): Soil moisture is declining, increasing stress on crops and ecosystems.  
• Red (Alert): Vegetation is under stress, indicating severe agricultural drought conditions. 

Credit: Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) – European Drought Observatory (EDO). 

Europe is facing a new kind of drought. A study by the World Weather Attribution (WWA), released on 23 July 2026, found that extreme heat, rather than a lack of rainfall alone, is now driving many of the continent’s droughts. Rising temperatures are pulling more moisture from soils, rivers, and vegetation, creating fast-developing “flash droughts” that threaten food production, water supplies, ecosystems, and livelihoods.

The findings show that Europe’s overheating is fundamentally changing how droughts develop, making them more frequent, more intense, and harder to manage. 

What is Happening? 

• A new World Weather Attribution analysis found that climate change has made extreme atmospheric evaporation around 80 times more likely in western Europe and 40 times more likely in eastern Europe, rapidly drying soils and water supplies.  
• The study shows that agricultural soil drought is now about five times more likely in western Europe and 11 times more likely in eastern Europe because of human-caused warming.  
• The study found no clear evidence that reduced rainfall was the main driver of the recent drought. Instead, record-breaking heat increased evaporation, intensifying drought conditions even in areas that experienced relatively wet winters.  
• Across Europe, drought is already contributing to water restrictions, falling river levels that disrupt shipping and hydropower, rising wildfire risk, and significant crop losses.  
• France is expected to record its worst maize harvest in 50 years, with an estimated 9 million tonnes of grain losses across affected regions as prolonged heat and dry soils reduce agricultural productivity. 

Why This Keeps Getting Worse: the Overheating Planet and Polar Change 

Europe is the fastest-warming continent, and higher temperatures are causing the atmosphere to draw more moisture from the land. Even when rainfall is close to normal, hotter conditions can rapidly dry soils, crops, and rivers, creating droughts that develop faster and last longer. This means communities are increasingly facing water shortages, agricultural losses, and greater wildfire risk driven by heat rather than rainfall alone. 

The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the global average, reducing the temperature difference between the Arctic and lower latitudes. Rapid melting of Arctic sea ice and glaciers amplifies this warming by reducing the Earth’s reflective ice cover, allowing more heat to be absorbed by the ocean and atmosphere. This can weaken and slow the jet stream, increasing the likelihood of persistent weather patterns that allow heatwaves to remain over Europe for extended periods. These prolonged hot conditions accelerate evaporation, dry landscapes, and increase the risk of severe drought, illustrating how changes in the Arctic can influence weather extremes far beyond the polar region. 

What This Means Beyond the Droughts

• Food and water security: Lower crop yields, reduced water availability, and increasing pressure on farmers threaten food supplies and household budgets. 
• Public health: Extreme heat and water shortages increase the risk of heat-related illness, dehydration, poorer air quality from wildfire smoke, and mental health impacts associated with prolonged drought. 
• Energy and transport: Reduced river flows disrupt inland shipping, hydropower generation, and industrial cooling, affecting supply chains and energy reliability. 
• Nature and ecosystems: Dry soils, stressed forests, and shrinking wetlands increase wildfire risk, reduce biodiversity, and weaken natural water-storing ecosystems such as forests, peatlands, floodplains, and wetlands. 

The Urgent Response Needed 

What Needs to Change: 

• Improve water management (e.g., rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge, efficient irrigation, and drought action plans).  
• Restore natural water storage (e.g., healthier soils through compost and protecting wetlands and forests).  
• Help farmers adapt (e.g., drought-tolerant crops, crop diversification, and early warning systems).  
• Reduce pollution that is overheating the planet while investing in resilient water and land management (e.g., restoring floodplains and efficient irrigation infrastructure). 

What YOU Can Do: 

• Follow water conservation guidance during droughts (e.g., follow restrictions on watering gardens, washing cars, and non-essential water use).  
• Stay hydrated and avoid extreme heat exposure (e.g., drink water, avoid outdoor activity during peak heat, and use cooling spaces during heatwaves).  
• Check on heat-vulnerable people (e.g., older adults, children, and neighbours living alone).  
• Follow official weather, drought, and wildfire alerts (e.g., DWD in Germany, Météo-France, AEMET in Spain, and EU wildfire warnings). 

Read more: Extreme weather events | Health risks | Climate Risks Daily 

Original source: Increasingly hot Europe faces more Severe Droughts and Growing Challenges for Water and Land Management – World Weather Attribution