Frost damage to winter crops remains limited despite end-of-winter cold spell


According to the March issue of the JRC MARS Crop monitoring Bulletin, which was published yesterday, weather conditions have generally been adequate for the wintering and early establishment of winter cereals, despite the unusual weather conditions experienced in large parts of Europe.

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During the end of February and the first days of March, large parts of Europe were under the influence of a cold spell, with minimum temperatures that ranged from -10°C in France down to below -20°C in Scandinavia, the Baltic countries, Ukraine and Russia. In contrast, Turkey experienced the warmest February in our records (i.e. since 1975).

In western and southern regions of the Iberian Peninsula and in northern Morocco, abundant precipitation occurred during the first days of March (> 100 mm). This surplus was beneficial and halted the persistent drought that had been ongoing since spring 2017. Precipitation remained well below the average in the north-eastern Maghreb region (eastern Algeria and Tunisia) as well as in Poland.

Links:

  • JRC MARS Bulletin Vol. 26 No 3: Crop monitoring in Europe: March 2018