Sunny skies and near- to above-normal temperatures were beneficial for maturing winter crops, while excessive heat and dryness on the Iberian Peninsula caused rapidly-increasing stress to summer crops.From France and England southeastward into the northern Balkans, dry weather coupled with temperatures in the upper 20s to lower 30s (degrees C) promoted winter crop maturation, drydown, and harvesting.
In contrast, light to moderate showers (5-25 mm) in northeastern Europe benefited reproductive to filling winter wheat and rapeseed.
On the Iberian Peninsula, excessive heat (41-44°C) stressed vegetative summer crops and hastened corn and sunflowers toward or into reproduction up to three weeks ahead of normal.
Furthermore, the heat and dryness exacerbated wildfires and made containment efforts difficult, particularly in central and northern Portugal.
Farther east, dryness and heat (32-35°C) across much of northern Italy’s Po River Valley increased irrigation requirements for vegetative corn, soybeans, and sunflowers, although localised showers and thunderstorms (10-50 mm) provided relief in central portions of the valley.
In Greece, moderate to heavy rain (10- 60 mm) provided supplemental moisture for irrigated summer crops but caused localised winter crop harvest delays.