A map of current droughts in Europe from the EU's Copernicus programme shows warnings and alerts over low soil moisture across many southern parts in January, from central and southwest France, to northern Spain, northern Italy and southern Germany, significant chunks of northern Greece and southern Bulgaria, and much of Turkey, according to Euronews.
"What is unusual, actually is the recurrence of of these events, because we experience, as you know, severe to extreme drought already a year ago and another one in 2018. And what is really unprecedented is indeed, that is the recurrence pattern," Andrea Toreti, senior scientist at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre and coordinator for the Copernicus, European and Global Drought Observatory, told Euronews.
Groundwater levels have remained consistently low for several years. A study by the Graz University of Technology's Institute of Geodesy used satellite data, and information from experts in several countries to track the extent of the changes.
The results revealed that the water situation in Europe had become unexpectedly precarious. "A few years ago I would not have thought that water could be a problem here in Europe, especially in Germany or Austria. We're actually getting problems with the water supply here, so we have to worry about that," said Torsten Mayer-Gürr, one of the leading researchers.
With little sign of significant rainfall and an end to the drought on the horizon, the coming weeks and months will be crucial.