In the United Kingdom, the effects of this year's spring drought are being felt in agriculture. The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has called on farmers to calculate their feed requirements for the year and develop emergency plans. According to the UK Met Office, this year's spring in England is one of the driest since 1961. The northeast and northwest regions are particularly affected by the lack of rainfall. Farmers in these areas have had to start irrigating crops earlier than usual. Water reservoir levels in these regions are significantly or exceptionally low. This is the driest start to the year in these parts of England since 1929. A drought was officially declared in the United Kingdom in 2022. At that time, water reservoirs were around 90% full in spring; this year, they are only at 80%. Rainfall in spring 2022 was about 78% of expected amounts, while this year it has only reached 35%. There are concerns about lower silage yields. Many cattle and sheep farmers rely on grazing during the summer and produce silage for winter feed stocks. Plans need to be made now to counteract an impending feed shortage in winter. Katie Evans from AHDB mentioned that significantly reduced grass growth is expected in the currently driest regions, reducing silage yields and limiting grazing areas. Additionally, AHDB has urged farmers to create individual plans for such extreme events, taking into account location, soil conditions, and farming practices. "As extreme events increase, this issue must now take center stage for everyone," emphasized Rachael Madeley-Davies, AHDB's head of environmental technology. The soil is drying out further, as shown by current soil moisture maps from the Helmholtz Institute. The agricultural weather forecast for this week shows a high-pressure ridge building from Iceland to the Mediterranean, bringing warmer air from the southwest, according to the German Weather Service. The weather forecast for Tuesday includes cloudy conditions in the far southwest and the Alpine region, with some showers or thunderstorms over the mountains. Otherwise, sunny with some cloud formation, mostly dry. Highest temperatures between 21 and 26 degrees Celsius, slightly cooler along the coast. Mostly light winds, becoming moderate near the coast. Wednesday will see rapid cloud cover and locally heavy rain and thunderstorms south of a line from Pfalz to Lausitz. Elsewhere, there will be cloud formation but mostly dry. In the northeast, it will be sunny and dry. High temperatures will range from around 15 degrees near the North Sea to up to 24 degrees in Upper Bavaria. Thursday will bring more rain in the south, while the coast will see variable cloud cover and showers with some hailstorms. The central regions will be mostly dry and friendly. Wind will be moderate from the northwest, becoming strong and occasionally stormy near the coast. The trend forecast for May 26th to 28th, 2025, predicts changeable and moderately warm weather from Monday to Wednesday.
