Prolonged hot and dry weather leaves EU countries grappling with withering harvests, lowered energy production and emergency water handouts, just as the war in Ukraine prompts a spike in food and energy prices.
France's worst drought on record has left parched villages without safe drinking water, farmers warning of a milk shortage in winter and corn harvests on course to be 18.5% lower than last year.
Farmers in Tuscany, the heart of Italy's prized wine and olive oil industry, are battling to salvage as much as they can ofProfessor David Hill, former deputy chair of Natural England, said intensive farming practices have worsened droughts by making the soil less able to retain water and therefore dry out or be washed away more easily.
Water shortages reduced Italy's hydropower production, with energy potential stored in water reserves stuck at around half the level of the last few years. Water levels in reservoirs for hydropower are down in nine countries, including Serbia, Montenegro and Norway.
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