Brazil's southern region faces intense cold threatening winter crops

A polar air mass moving southward across Brazil has driven temperatures down to as low as 3 °C near the Uruguay border and near‑freezing lows in the highlands of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. The cold front brings frost risk to winter cereals such as wheat, barley, oat and canola in Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, while coffee, vegetable and orchard crops in the southeast face delayed development. Pasture growth for dairy and beef cattle is also expected to slow, prompting farmers to consider protective measures like night irrigation and windbreaks.

In the north, isolated thunderstorms continue to bring heavy rain that hampers the second‑crop maize and soybean harvests in Pará, Rondônia and other Amazon states, increasing disease pressure and complicating transport logistics. Meteorological authorities have warned vulnerable populations, especially children, the elderly and the homeless, to take precautions against the unusually low temperatures, which are among the most severe recorded for 2026.