Drought still lingering, despite recent rain

Despite the recent days of rainy weather, this calendar year is still in the top 5 of the driest years since 1906, the beginning of weather being recorded, the weather agency Weeronline reported on Tuesday. According to the weather service, the precipitation deficit dropped from 129 millimeters on Friday to 124 millimeters due to the rain of the last few days.

During sunny weather, a lot of water evaporates, and if more evaporates than is added by rain, a deficit occurs. The rain areas that will move across the country in the coming days could reduce the deficit to 112 millimeters by Friday. A 15-day period after this is expected to be dry again, which could lead to the deficit rising back to 120 millimeters.

Water authorities took action after the deficit reached 129 millimeters on Friday, implementing an irrigation ban in some areas. This issue was solved somewhat when nine millimeters of rain fell on Sunday.

Neighboring countries have also seen droughts, which has shown in the rivers in the Netherlands as both the Rhine and the Meuse now have a discharge that is well below the long-term average, according to Weeronline. They are hovering around the 5% lowest discharge ever recorded.