Climatologist: Droughts will become more severe and more frequent

An unprecedented drought has affected the Old Continent. Most climatologists are of the opinion that droughts will become more frequent and longer lasting, Simeon Matev from the Department of Climatology at Sofia University told NT on August 16. We have to prepare for droughts and, unfortunately, they will become more and more severe, he said.

Much of Europe is currently experiencing quite a serious situation - Northern Italy, Spain, parts of France and Germany have only 30% of the norm of rainfall. In combination with high temperatures and not good management of water resources, that is how we get to such situation.

In some places in Europe, the drought is unprecedented - there are bans on domestic use of water, water restrictions, and this is unacceptable for modern Europeans, Matev said.

Much of Germany is affected by "extreme drought".

Main factor for the drought is the lack of rainfall, high temperatures. These high temperatures are historic for Europe. In July, the UK recorded a historic temperature of over 40 degrees. Another factor is low atmospheric humidity and long periods without rainfall.

Drought affects biodiversity. And low water levels have socio-economic consequences.