According to an analysis by the Financial Times, wildfires and their associated consequences in the five hardest-hit eurozone countries have caused more than €3.1 billion in damage. Since the start of the season, fires have destroyed nearly 500,000 hectares of land. The estimate is based on the cost of restoring the affected land and does not fully account for indirect losses to business, agriculture, and tourism.
Agriculture was one of the first sectors to suffer measurable losses. An analysis by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit showed that the June heat wave reduced the value of the European grain harvest by approximately €2 billion. The losses are linked to a reduction in the production forecast of nearly 9 million metric tons of grain in the EU and the UK.
The European Commission has also lowered its yield forecasts for a number of crops. According to data from the EU’s Joint Research Center (JRC), the yield forecast for winter crops was reduced by 1–4%, while the decline for corn and sunflowers is estimated at 6–7%. The overall forecast for grains is approximately 1% below the five-year average.
Serious problems have arisen in Romania’s energy sector. According to Reuters, due to the drought, water flow in the Danube has dropped to approximately 1,400 cubic meters per second. This has created difficulties for the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant: one of the two reactors has been shut down, and the second is at risk of being shut down. The plant’s two reactors typically account for about 20% of the country’s electricity production.
The situation with the Danube has also affected the energy sectors of other countries in the region. In Hungary, the water level in Budapest dropped to 10 cm—below the previous record of 33 cm set in 2018. Due to the water shortage, the output of the country’s only nuclear power plant, Paks, has dropped from approximately 2,000 MW to 240 MW, according to the Associated Press.
According to the source, low water levels are limiting freight transport. The Danube is one of Europe’s key transportation routes, but due to shallow waters, ships are forced to reduce the volume of cargo they carry. This is affecting the shipment of grain, fuel, and industrial raw materials between Central European countries and Black Sea ports.
The economic damage caused by the heat is also evident in labor productivity. As Mediafax notes, in the United Kingdom, the June heat wave has already led to the loss of about 24 million working hours, and the associated economic damage is estimated at £1.15 billion (€1.3 billion).
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