Severe soil drought covers 46% of Czechia as rain nears

The two most severe levels of soil drought now cover 46 percent of Czechia. Scientists describe the expected rain as the first noticeable positive outlook in months: “After several months, this is the first tangible forecast of easing soil drought.”

Compared with the 1961–2015 average, the situation is worst in southern and southwestern Czechia and across much of Moravia. The soil is short of several tens of millimetres of water.

The dryness is such that experts expect a high fire risk on Wednesday in the Břeclav and Hodonín areas and a medium risk across most of South Moravia. They say this results from a combination of windier weather and very low moisture in dead wood, which is highly unusual for the second half of October. After the rain, the situation should improve and the fire risk should fall to low.

The problem is not only a Czech one. Extreme drought in the top 40 centimetres of soil is currently most visible in Slovakia and in the border areas of Slovakia with Austria and Hungary. In deeper layers, at a depth of one to two metres, the situation is markedly worse: extreme drought affects many Central European countries, from southern Germany and Czechia through much of Slovakia and the lowlands of Austria and Hungary to southern Europe. Experts believe the rain expected in the coming days should improve conditions in both the surface and the deeper layers of the soil.

Around Prague, based on reporting by ekolist.cz