A slow-moving frontal boundary was the focus for 10 to 65 mm of rain from northern Spain into France and the United Kingdom.
The rain was too late to offer much benefit to filling to maturing winter grains in northern Spain (impacted by spring drought), but the rain was timely for flowering to filling wheat in France and southeastern England.
Showers were highly variable (1-50 mm) and somewhat lighter in Germany, but nevertheless still beneficial for reproductive winter crops.
While moisture conditions have improved considerably in these locales over the past three weeks, concerns over the impacts of a protracted late-April and earlyMay freeze lingered.
Over the eastern third of Europe, drier, warmer weather (2-5°C above normal) facilitated late summer crop planting and allowed winter crops to accelerate through the flowering and filling stages of development; however, locally heavy showers (10-50 mm) were reported from western Poland into the Balkans, but rain was not widespread.
In Italy, 2 to 30 mm of rain (locally more) in the Po River Valley maintained favourable moisture supplies for summer crop emergence and development.