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French winegrowers and farmers fear for their harvest because of the cold

2022-04-04T12:55:29.550Z


It was the coldest April night in France since 1947: Europe is currently experiencing extremely cool temperatures for this time of year - some of which also threaten the power supply. It will remain cool, stormy and rainy.


Enlarge image

Le Vernois: Candlelight is said to keep temperatures above zero degrees Celsius in this vineyard

Photo:

Laurent Cipriani / dpa

One low-pressure area after another is currently moving from the North Atlantic here to Europe.

Storm, cold and precipitation that they bring with them have sometimes serious consequences in many places.

France, for example, experienced the coldest April night since 1947 in the night from Sunday to Monday - so that, according to Météo France, winegrowers and farmers now have to fear for their harvest and households for their electricity supply.

The network operator RTE, for example, called for no dishwashers or washing machines to be switched on on Monday morning in order to prevent power outages.

Vintners and farmers tried to protect their plants from freezing with torches and wind machines.

Only around half of the French nuclear power plants are connected to the grid

“Many fruit growers are affected.

It's particularly bad for stone fruit," said Christiane Lambert, chairwoman of the farmers' union FNSEA.

The frost could destroy the harvest of apricots, plums and plums.

A cold spell last year had already significantly reduced the grape and fruit harvest.

Despite climate change, night frost in spring continues to cause problems for agriculture.

Because of the generally milder temperatures, vines and fruit trees sprout earlier than usual.

However, this also makes them susceptible to frost earlier in the year.

The network agency RTE had announced the orange warning level for Monday.

The French should save energy especially between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m.

Otherwise there could be a risk of overloading.

Background: Because a number of nuclear power plants in France are off the grid for a long time due to maintenance and unforeseen repairs, less electricity than usual can be generated at the moment.

27 out of 56 nuclear reactors are currently not online.

As Météo France announced in Paris, the average temperature across the country last night was minus 1.5 degrees – the lowest value in 75 years.

The lowest value of minus 14.3 degrees was measured in Ristolas at an altitude of 1670 meters in the Alps, record values ​​​​were also reached near Reims with minus nine degrees.

There was night frost practically everywhere.

Low water at the Baltic Sea

In northern Germany, the low-pressure areas can currently be felt as a wet and cold storm, which according to the German Weather Service (DWD) initially blows from the south-west with up to strength 10.

The storm led to significantly low water levels on the German Baltic Sea coast.

The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) expects up to 130 centimeters less water than normal in the Bay of Kiel and Lübeck on Monday.

On the coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, west of Rügen, the Baltic Sea is expected to sink up to 115 centimeters below the normal water level.

Germany is threatened by floods and hurricane gusts

The weather is expected to remain uncomfortable and turbulent throughout the week – with storms, heavy precipitation and thaw.

The snowmelt also threatens many regions with flooding.

"A lot of water is coming together, so that some warning thresholds are exceeded," said a DWD meteorologist.

According to the DWD, the stormy western weather conditions should find their temporary peak on Thursday.

According to the forecast, storm depression "Nasim" then causes heavy rain and locally also heavy gusts of wind with wind speeds of up to one hundred kilometers per hour.

"Especially in the north, there could even be a very dangerous storm situation with hurricane-like gusts or even hurricane gusts."

Apr/dpa/AFP

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2022-04-04

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