Brussels

Nearly half of the area in Europe is 'at risk' of drought, said the European Commission on Monday.

The bloc warned that water and heat stress is driving crop yields down from a previously already negative outlook for cereals and other crops.

The drought in much of Europe is critical as the winter-spring precipitation deficit was exacerbated by early heatwaves thus reducing soil water content.

River discharge in multiple countries is severely affected, with stored water volumes also depleted. Altogether, this may require extraordinary water and energy management measures to be taken in affected countries.

Water and heat stress are driving crop yields down from a previously already negative outlook for cereals and other crops.

“France, Romania, Spain, Portugal and Italy will need to deal with this reduced crop yield. Germany, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia are also impacted," the European Commission has warned.

Drought emergency has been declared in five Italian regions and insufficient water availability has led to multiple use restrictions across municipalities.

Similar measures to restrict water use have been taken in France.

The situation is also difficult across the Iberian Peninsula. In Spain, volumes of water stored in reservoirs are currently 31 per cent lower than the 10-year average.

In Portugal, hydroelectric energy stored in water reservoirs is at half the average of the previous seven years.

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Both Portugal and Spain are experiencing conditions conducive to wildfires.