Water event
European drought
The most severe European drought in at least five hundred years by several assessments, with record low flows on the Rhine, Po, Loire and Danube.
Key facts
- Event type
- Drought
- Started
- 2022-05-01
- Ended
- 2022-10-31
Cause
A precipitation deficit through winter and spring followed by repeated heatwaves that drove exceptional evapotranspiration, compounded by reduced Alpine snowpack.
Impact
- Rhine navigation restricted by low water, disrupting European freight
- French nuclear output curtailed by cooling water temperature limits
- Po delta saline intrusion damaging agriculture
- Hosepipe bans across England and drought status declared in most of the country
Response
Abstraction restrictions, navigation limits, agricultural irrigation bans and emergency drought orders across multiple countries.
Aftermath
Demonstrated that European water systems are exposed to compound drought and heat events, and that the impacts propagate directly into energy, transport and food systems.
Relationships
- Located in: Europe
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Sources
- Peer-reviewed scientific literature — Open-access hydrology, water chemistry and water use research. Public but restricted · Publisher terms — public access, reuse not clearly granted