Drought pressed into the Mediterranean basin in the early months of 2024, delivering well below average rainfall across Southern Europe and North Africa. This assessment comes from official authorities and is summarized by the European Drought Observatory (EDO).
EDO notes that more than four in ten soils in Southern Europe showed moisture stress during this period, with around 2.8 percent of soils reaching peak dryness by February 10. The moisture deficit affected a broad swath of land, influencing agriculture, water reserves, and regional planning as temperatures and evaporation continued to rise.
Copernicus, the EU’s climate monitoring service, has data revealing drought conditions across roughly a quarter of Europe and North Africa. The pattern intensified after the end of January, yet it shows a slight improvement compared with the same time frame in the previous year, when drought covered about 31 percent of Mediterranean regions. This comparison highlights the variability of drought impacts from year to year and the importance of ongoing monitoring.
The western Mediterranean zone has been among the hardest hit. Southern Italy, Spain, northern Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia all faced pronounced rainfall shortfalls, translating into stressed water resources and heightened demand on reservoirs, rivers, and groundwater supplies. These conditions underscore the interconnected nature of regional hydrology and the cascading effects on ecosystems and human activity.
In Catalonia, authorities declared a drought emergency as water levels in reservoirs dropped to below 16 percent, marking what officials described as the most severe drought in a century for the region. Such thresholds trigger measures aimed at safeguarding essential supplies and communicating the urgency to residents and industries dependent on these resources.
Forecasts from EDO indicate that spring 2024 is likely to be warmer than normal. A warmer season tends to accelerate snowmelt in the mountains, reducing the snowpack that feeds rivers throughout the year. This scenario raises concerns about sustained water availability into the summer and the need for strategic water management combined with proactive conservation for both urban centers and agricultural users.
Meteorologists also warned that February 2024 could mark record warmth, which would amplify evaporation and further strain rainfall reserves. The convergence of high temperatures, reduced precipitation, and depleted snowpack compounds the risk to water security across the region and reinforces the necessity for coordinated drought responses and resilience planning.