North-west Europe has experienced an unusually dry spring so far. Belgium has been particularly dry, experiencing four times less rain than in a typical spring according to data from the Uccle measuring station (as of early May), with fears that this season will be the driest spring in 130 years. This has led the country to put in place an extreme drought warning.
The UK has also had a very dry spring with only 80.6mm of rain recorded so far, making this the driest spring in more than a century with only two weeks to go. England has been particularly affected by the lack of rain, seeing the driest February to April period since 1956, with parts of northern England, including the often rainy city of Manchester, experiencing more than 20 days without a drop of rain.
Northern France is also at risk of seeing these drought-like conditions, with fears that this spring is shaping up to be even drier than the record-breaking year of 1976. However, unlike 1976, soils across northern France are much wetter thanks to severe rainfall in January, which is not the case for Belgium and the UK.
This lack of precipitation comes from a high-pressure blocking pattern that has been in place over north-west Europe over the past couple of months, suppressing rainfall, and leading to very dry, and often warm and sunny conditions. This has had a significant impact on agriculture with soils becoming increasingly very dry, as well as river transport with river levels becoming unusually low for the time of year.
Conditions are expected to remain dry here for the next week or so, but low pressure is likely to move in from the west between late May and early June, which could bring some much-needed relief to many industries.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Austin and San Antonio in Texas shattered their all-time daily temperature records, with highs soaring above 38C on Wednesday, which is about 8C above the May norm. A potent mix of drought, high pressure and a searing dryline – the boundary between humid and dry air – has fuelled the heatwave, bringing hot and dry air from the south. Scorching temperatures are expected to persist into the weekend as high pressure continues to dominate. Canada has been feeling the burn too, as Winnipeg and southern parts of Manitoba and Saskatchewan broke records dating back to 1958, with temperatures hitting 33.8C on Monday.