Central Europe faces record drought in August

Slovakia is among nine European countries that experienced its driest August since the European Drought Observatory (EDO) began monitoring in 2012. The drought heavily impacted Central Europe, with approximately one-third of Slovakia and two-thirds of Hungary facing the highest drought warnings.

In August, drought conditions affected 58 percent of the European Union's territory, covering nearly 2.5 million square kilometers. This represents a 25 percentage point increase compared to the average recorded between 2012 and 2025. Other countries recording record-dry Augusts include Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Luxembourg, Serbia, and Switzerland.

A study by the Climameter scientific consortium indicates that the intensity of the three-month drought experienced from June to August 2026 is approximately three times more likely than in the period between 1950 and 1987. Scientists noted that current weather conditions result in significantly stronger droughts in a world affected by climate change.