Northern Mediterranean Community

Another year with long consecutive days without rain in Europe...
Will this affect the price of some major agricultural products from Northern Mediterranean region? For example, Spain is a main producer of cucumbers in EU, and Italy and Greece produce a large proportion of olive products (including olive oil) in EU.
Let us see the prices of such products say in the autumn, perhaps that will give a direct impression on how drought affects economy and our daily consumption.

The Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP/MAP)
Official webpage: https://www.unep.org/unepmap/index.php/who-we-are

It seems that UNEP/MAP does a lot of work related to water and drought, sometimes with a unique 'ocean perspective'. On its webpage we can find a lot of useful information.

The Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP/MAP) is a regional cooperation platform established in 1975 as the first regional action plan under the UNEP Regional Seas Programme.

The Regional Seas Programme launched in 1974 to coordinate activities aimed at the protection of the marine environment through a regional approach. UNEP/MAP became a model for other UNEP-administered Regional Seas Action Plans around the world.

UNEP/MAP was instrumental in the negotiation and adoption of the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention) and its Protocols by the Contracting Parties: 21 Mediterranean countries and the European Union.

The Barcelona Convention and its Protocols constitute a unique and advanced multilateral legal framework for the protection of the marine and coastal environment and sustainable use of their resources in the Mediterranean.

The UNEP/MAP–Barcelona Convention system is the comprehensive institutional, legal and implementation framework that the Contracting Parties have adopted for concerted action to fulfill the vision of a healthy Mediterranean Sea and Coast that underpin sustainable development in the region.

Over the last four decades, the UNEP/MAP—Barcelona Convention system has responded to evolving environmental challenges and bolstered a growing body of knowledge on marine and coastal ecosystems and of interactions between development and environment in the Mediterranean region.

From EU Science Hub
https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/european-and-global-drought-…

Current drought situation in Europe: The latest status of drought in Europe using a combined drought indicator

Drought conditions in Europe at the beginning of March 2025
Summary

From 1 to 10 March, the map shows slowly worsening drought conditions across southern and eastern Europe. Severe, enduring, and critical conditions persist in the Mediterranean, and Middle East regions. The Iberian Peninsula faces critical conditions, with extreme impacts due to alternating periods of drought and intense winter precipitation. In south-eastern Spain vegetation remains affected.

Warning and watch drought conditions

By early March 2025, the Combined Drought Indicator (CDI) shows warning drought conditions in sparse regions of the Iberian Peninsula and Italy, south-eastern Baltic Sea region, Poland, most of Belarus, central and eastern Ukraine, some regions of Greece, some areas of the Balkans, Cyprus, Malta and other Mediterranean islands, as well as Ireland, northern UK, few spots in southern France, western and south-eastern Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and most of in Türkiye.

Wide regions in central-eastern Europe, western Russia, eastern Alps, eastern Türkiye, and few areas in south-eastern Sweden, are under watch conditions due to a precipitation deficit.

Alert drought conditions

Some areas in the Mediterranean region, particularly in south-eastern Spain, central Greece and Crete are under persistent alert drought conditions, with impacts on the vegetation. This severe and prolonged drought is even more intense and worsening in most of northern Morocco, northern Algeria, and some regions in Tunisia, causing significant impacts. Alert conditions have been developing in south-eastern Türkiye, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, part of Jordan and northern Iraq.

Normal and recovery drought conditions

Scandinavia, southern Great Britain, north-eastern Iberian Peninsula, the majority of France, parts of Germany, Benelux and Switzerland, most of northern and central Italy, nearly all of the western Balkans, south-eastern Romania, and part of Bulgaria show normal or recovery conditions.

Temperatures

During this 10-day period, temperatures were above the seasonal average in most of Europe with the highest daily anomalies in northern and eastern Europe, and with short warm spells in the same regions.

Note: this analysis was performed on 18-03-2025, based on data referring to early March 2025, and computed with version 4.0 of the Combined Drought Indicator.

European Drought Observatory website is below:
https://drought.emergency.copernicus.eu/tumbo/edo/map/

Florence and Pisa on alert as flooding hits Italy

'There has been flooding and landslides in parts of northern Italy as red alerts cover cities including Florence and Pisa.

Torrential rain prompted the alerts for parts of Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, with heavy and persistent rainfall expected into the afternoon on Friday.

Tuscany's president said local rescue and health services were on high alert and advised residents to exercise "the utmost attention and caution".

Almost a month's worth of rain fell in Florence on Friday morning while landslides and mudslides were reported in Bologna, where some residents were evacuated on Thursday evening ahead of heavy rain overnight'
full details see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2jr7nr60ro

A personal note: many experiences show that floods and droughts often happen in turns. Will this also be the same? Hopefully not!

Prolonged drought and record temperatures have critical impact in the Mediterranean

A report by JRC. Although produced in last year, I think people may still be interested in it as it could also generate interesting findings for this and coming years. Website here:
https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/jrc-news-and-updates/prolong….

📸 Capture the solutions that inspire change!
The UNCCD and GWP have launched a global photo competition at UNCCD COP 16 in December 2024 in Riyadh to highlight powerful solutions to drought and water scarcity.
From nature-based solutions to technological innovations, we’re looking for impactful images that showcase how communities and ecosystems build resilience to drought.
🏆 Finalists will have their work exhibited at UNCCD Headquarters in Bonn during the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought on June 17, 2025.
💰 Winners in each category will receive a $500 gift card from the International Center of Photography or Fotografiska Museum.
⏳ Don’t miss the submission deadline: March 31, 2025!
📢 Winners will be announced in May 2025.
🔗 Submit your entry today and let your photos inspire action! https://droughtclp.unccd.int/photo-competition