More than half of Europe and the Mediterranean basin was hit by drought in mid-August, according to an AFP analysis of data from the European Union’s climate monitor.
The data showed 52 percent of the region was affected — more for that period than in any year since data collection began in 2012.
The mid-August drought followed similar records over previous months, according to the European Drought Observatory (EDO) — part of the European Union’s Copernicus climate programme.
The data came from satellite observation and combined the level of rainfall, soil humidity, and the state of vegetation.
In mid-August southeastern Europe was hit particularly hard — especially Armenia, where 99 percent of the soil was affected by drought from August 11 to 20.
Georgia was not far behind on 98 percent, and Bulgaria and Kosovo with 97 percent.
On the Atlantic Coast more than three quarters of Portugal was affected by drought.
The country also experienced devastating wildfires in August which killed at least four people and left others injured.
It was the hottest summer in Portugal since 1931, according to the national meteorological agency.
Some 70 percent of France was also hit by drought.
The southwest of the country was ravaged from August 5 by the worst wildfire in the French Mediterranean for a decade.
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