In the UK, only two water companies have banned the use of outdoor hoses, but others have already warned that restrictions could be introduced if dry weather persists.Ban now affects millions of people In the south of England it is forbidden to clean cars, water gardens or water pools. Rule breakers in some areas can be fined £1,000 or around $1,200.
Drought has been particularly devastating to European agriculture, which is already suffering from an unusually dry spring season, drying up crops, making it difficult for livestock to feed, and raising concerns about reduced yields. It is rising.
This week, the European Union’s administration urged bloc member states to reuse treated municipal wastewater for farm irrigation.
“Freshwater resources are scarce and under increasing pressure,” said Virginijus Sinkevicius, the trade union’s environmental commissioner. said in a statement“At times of unprecedented temperature peaks, we need to stop wasting water and use this resource more efficiently,” he added.
In Italy, Coldiretti, the national federation of farmers, said last week that 250,000 farms are struggling because of drought and rising energy costs.One in ten farmers will never recover. The association says there is. said in a statement. On Thursday, the outgoing Italian government allocated about €200 million, or $204 million, to help farmers.
But the drought hit in other ways as well.
In the Italian town of Borgoforte, a few miles south of Mantua, 3,000 residents were evacuated this weekend after World War II-era unexploded ordnance emerged from the river Po as water levels receded. . reported by local media.