<\/p>\n
Spring heat waves have meant that the competition for water will start earlier than usual this year, according to the agency, which may compromise the water supply in the coming months.<\/p>\n
Drier-than-normal conditions are forecast for the next three months across large areas of Europe.<\/p>\n
In southern Europe, after three heat waves since the start of summer, Spain<\/b> It has already seen the volume of water in its reservoirs reduced to around 40% of its total capacity and there are several autonomous communities with restrictions on water consumption, not only in torrid Andalusia.<\/p>\n
Also in Portugal<\/b>almost half of the territory suffers from extreme drought, and the current hydrological year is, to date, the second driest since 1931.<\/p>\n
In Italy,<\/b> the banks of the Po are suffering the worst drought in the last seventy years and a state of emergency has just been approved in five regions, with 36 million euros allocated mainly to farmers.<\/p>\n
In France<\/b>the metropolitan territory is officially in a state of drought, with 57 of its 96 departments on red alert and 32 on orange.<\/p>\n
Further north, in Germany<\/b> the drought complicates navigation on the Rhine, whose flow is lower than usual although without reaching the historical minimum of 2018, so the ships are now shallower and the load has been reduced to 50% or 30% of the normal volume for transportation of raw materials such as coal and fuels.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n