More than 60% of the EU and UK territories are under a drought alert
An official UK drought declaration will be made tomorrow, according to water industry officials.
In addition, a second extreme heat warning has gone into effect in the country and will remain in place until Sunday.
Water reservoirs in several regions of Europe dropped to low levels in July
Tali Goldstein
11/08/2022
Thursday, August 11, 2022, 2:00 p.m. Updated: 2:36 p.m.
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An official UK drought declaration will be made tomorrow (Friday), the BBC reported, according to water industry officials.
In addition, a second extreme heat warning went into effect last night in the country and will remain in place until Sunday.
At the same time, alarming official data were published according to which more than 60% of the territories of the European Union and Great Britain are under a drought alert.
The Rhine River is drying up, Germany (Photo: GettyImages)
Britain before the heat wave in July - and after (photo: official website, Twitter)
Weeks of high temperatures with almost no precipitation have left the country's rivers and lakes, fields and parks on the brink of drying up.
Last month even recorded the highest temperature in the history of England - 40.3 degrees Celsius.
The country's environment agency, which has the authority to declare a drought, will monitor the water companies to ensure they do not deviate from their drought plans.
Less water will be pumped from the rivers, and the water companies will impose restrictions on non-essential water consumption.
Temperatures are expected to rise again in the country in the coming days but not break last month's record.
Rain is expected to fall only in the far north.
The heat record will be recorded on Friday-Saturday thanks to high pressure that is over Britain.
Temperatures will rise to 35-36 degrees Celsius in the affected areas.
In Scotland and Ireland the temperatures will also rise but will not exceed 30 degrees.
According to an update from the British Center for Ecology and Hydrology, above average temperatures and below average rainfall will accompany the south east of Britain until October.
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The Po River in Italy has disappeared (Photo: Reuters)
On Wednesday, the European Drought Observatory (EDO) published new and unprecedented data, according to which 63% of the territory of the European Union and the United Kingdom - an area the size of India and larger than the three largest states of the United States, Alaska, Texas and California, combined - is under a drought warning.
The warning is particularly severe in Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Hungary and Romania.
twitter on video: fires are raging in Europe (Photo: Reuters)
Huge fires in Spain following the heat wave July 19, 2022 (Photo: Reuters)
The European climate monitoring agency Copernicus reported on Monday that most of Europe experienced a drier than average July, with records broken in southwest and southeast Europe.
In the monthly forecast, the agency stated that these conditions cause forest fires to spread and worsen, combined with heat waves in parts of Europe, in one of the hottest summers in modern history on the continent.
A recent report from the Joint Research Center, the scientific division of the European Commission, predicts a drop of 8%-9% in the production of corn, sunflowers and soybeans in the European Union due to the hot, dry conditions this summer.
On video: Heat wave in Europe (Photo: Reuters)
Water reservoirs in several regions of Europe fell in July to low levels that are insufficient to meet demand, according to Copernicus.
Southern England recorded its driest July since records began in 1836.
Across Britain, July was the driest in decades.
Britain recorded only 46.3 mm, or 56%, of the average amount of rain in July, after the previous months were also drier than average, with the exception of February.
In France, 9.7 mm of rain fell in July - making it the driest month since measurements began in 1959 and a drop of 85% in the amount of rain compared to the average in 1991-2020.
Last week, Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne announced unprecedented water restrictions banning people from watering lawns, washing cars and watering crops on farms.
In more than a hundred local authorities in France, drinking water does not flow and the water is supplied to people in trucks.
In Germany, the water level in the Rhine River has dropped to a low in some areas, and if it continues to drop - vessel traffic will not be allowed to pass through Europe's main waterway due to the low level.
The Netherlands also declared a water shortage.
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