A prolonged, poor rainfall combined with recurrent and severe heatwaves, is worsening drought conditions across Europe. Following alarming signals in May, drought has further deteriorated in July and August, pushing Europe’s four major rivers – Loire, Po, Rhine and the Danube – to record low levels in August, according to Copernicus, the EU’s Earth observation programme.
A sequence of extreme heatwaves – fed by global warming – has had a compounding effect on drought in Europe. The drought has built up since early spring due to lower rainfall and higher than average temperatures, turning into fuel for the devastating wildfires in France and Spain in July. Forecasts point to more warm weather throughout August and into September. Moreover, the climate phenomenon El Niño may bring warmer-than-normal conditions, with warmth building towards spring 2027.
Water resources, crops, energy system, river transport, tourism and ecosystems area are all under growing pressure. At the same time, wildfire activity has increased across the continent, with the burnt area in the EU by 5 August 2026 ahead of the same period in 2025. Last year was the worst on record in terms of burnt area (1,034,552 hectares) in the EU, according to the Copernicus European Forest Fires Information System (EFFIS), operated by the JRC.
