France experiences historic drought: "An absolute catastrophe" - The Loire has completely dried up
Created: 08/11/2022, 14:19
By: Naima Wolfsperger
France is experiencing a historic drought.
Groundwater levels are low, some rivers have dried up and fires are smoldering in many parts of the country.
Paris - France is experiencing a catastrophic drought.
It's not just people who are affected by the drought and heat.
The consequences for agriculture and water supply are devastating.
Little water is currently flowing in many rivers in Europe.
France is particularly hard hit.
It was "the worst drought that has ever been recorded in our country," said Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.
She set up a crisis team and called for water conservation.
In one village, residents were even forbidden to brush their teeth.
In France, the third heat wave is already chasing through the ongoing drought.
Heat and drought are also currently prevailing in Germany.
But in France, 84 percent less rain fell in July than normal.
Groundwater levels are low almost everywhere in the country.
The crisis level has been declared in 60 of 96 departments.
In some places, people have to be supplied with drinking water by truck.
The damage to agriculture is devastating, reports agrarheute.com.
Dusty and cracked soil, dried up rivers - only undemanding plants can grow in these circumstances.
Historic drought in France: The Loire has dried up completely
A Twitter user announces his desperation over the drought on the short message platform.
He shares the image of an almost dried up river: the Loire is the largest river in France with a length of 1008 km and a catchment area of 117,000 km².
The water is ankle-deep in sections.
There is little evidence that a torrent was to flow there, at Loireauxsance, some 55 kilometers east of Nantes and more than 100 kilometers from Saint-Nazaire, where the Loire meets the Atlantic.
Only the dry, brown cracked river bed indicates that.
A main traffic artery of the French tourist shipping is fallow.
A number of tourist destinations on its banks are also affected.
There are currently no ships on the Loire, which is navigable as far as Nantes.
The consequences for people
"A complete desasater" - "an absolute disaster" writes another user in the comments.
A few weeks earlier, there was still water in the river bed, writes another user.
The drought cannot be overlooked in Germany either, writes another user and shares a picture of the dried-up river bed of the Rhine.
Drought: A dry part of the Loire river bed can be seen in western France.
© Sebastien Salom-Gomis/picture alliance/dpa/AFP
What's fanning out here is another peak in the historic drought hitting France in the summer months of 2022.
The forest fire near Bordeaux, which had been smoldering for weeks, only flared up again on Wednesday.
The fire spreads rapidly.
Thousands of people had to leave their homes.
Fires are still blazing in other parts of the country.
In Italy, meanwhile, a “water war” was declared on Lake Garda.