Europe’s worsening drought conditions, stretching from France and Germany to Italy, Central Europe, the western Balkans and parts of the UK, are intensifying concerns about food security and reinforcing the case for AI-powered forecasting, precision irrigation, water-management systems and climate-resilience technologies on farm.
While conditions have not yet in fact reached the severity of the continent-wide drought of 2022, agricultural groups across Europe warn that drought is no longer an occasional shock but an increasingly permanent feature of farming.
UK farmers warn of food shortages and falling yields
The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) is calling for urgent action to improve agricultural resilience.
It has warned there could be shortages of certain foods in the UK if substantial rainfall fails to arrive soon. NFU president Tom Bradshaw said declining yields are already being seen across arable crops including wheat and oats, while feed availability for livestock is becoming a growing concern.
The heat and dry conditions are also affecting irrigated crops, fruit and salad production, with potatoes particularly vulnerable.
“They have to have moisture in the ground when they are harvested otherwise they are at risk of damage like bruising,” Bradshaw told the BBC’s Today programme. “They are sort of imprisoned in the ground without moisture.”
The industry is now entering a critical phase of the drought, with the next two months and the coming winter likely to determine the long-term impact on food production.
Compounding the challenge is the fact that many of the UK’s traditional backup supply regions are suffering similar conditions, raising concerns over future availability and prices.
From wet winter to summer drought
For the NFU, the current crisis demonstrates that the challenge is not simply a lack of rainfall, but an inability to capture and store water for later use.
Its warnings come after an unusually wet start to 2026. England received 150% of average rainfall in January and 170% in February, while reservoir stocks reached 94% capacity before conditions rapidly deteriorated during spring and summer.
The contrast has intensified calls for greater investment in water-storage infrastructure and technologies capable of helping farmers manage increasingly volatile weather patterns.
NFU pushes for reservoirs, smarter water management and investment incentives
The NFU is calling on government to prioritise water storage for food production and accelerate investment in water infrastructure.
Specifically, it wants flexible abstraction licences so farmers can store water when rainfall is available, aster planning approval for reservoirs and water-storage projects, and greater support for on-farm reservoir investment through grants and tax incentives.
“Central to this will be fast tracking investment and planning changes meaning we can build new reservoirs on farm,” said Bradshaw. “We need a common-sense approach to water use, with water access prioritised for livestock, particularly poultry and pigs.”
He advocates wants greater use of real-time monitoring and digital water management, arguing that technologies such as flow meters, pump monitoring and dynamic abstraction systems could help farmers capture and utilise water more efficiently.
“We need to look at better harvesting water using technology like flow meters in rivers and streams and monitors on pumps so we can have real-time dynamic abstraction within our catchments.”
The NFU also wants the Annual Investment Allowance expanded to cover assets such as farm reservoirs and livestock buildings, creating stronger incentives for long-term resilience investment.
Resilience is becoming farming’s next big technology opportunity
Former Defra Secretary George Eustice believes worsening climate volatility is increasing demand for technologies that improve farm resilience.
Speaking to AgNavigator, Eustice said: “Resilience is becoming a more prominent consideration due to the increased frequency of extreme weather conditions and the impact of this on the financial resilience of farm enterprises.”
He argues that soil health will become a central part of future resilience strategies.
“If we can improve soil health, and have crops that are deeper rooted with more of their needs available in the soil, then drought tolerance can increase.”
According to Eustice, technologies such as biostimulants, organic fertilisers and soil-improvement products could play a critical role by increasing organic matter and improving moisture retention, while simultaneously reducing farm input costs.
Europe’s growing debate: compensation or adaptation?
While the NFU is focusing heavily on resilience and water infrastructure, the debate within continental Europe is proving more complicated.
A recent Politico analysis revealed how Europe’s worsening drought is exposing a growing divide between farming groups seeking more emergency financial support and those advocating long-term resilience investments such as reservoirs, irrigation infrastructure, AI-powered forecasting, water-management technologies and climate-adaptation measures.
The debate is increasingly centred on whether public money should compensate farmers after losses occur or help them avoid those losses altogether.
Central and Eastern Europe seek stronger drought safety nets
Governments and farming organisations across drought-hit Central and Eastern Europe, including Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Hungary, are calling for a stronger EU safety net.
As climate-related crop losses become more frequent, these countries argue that emergency support can no longer be treated as an exceptional measure. They want drought losses to trigger support more easily and payments to reach farmers faster.
For many producers in the region, compensation remains an essential tool for protecting farm businesses from increasingly severe weather shocks.
France, Germany and Brussels back long-term resilience
Despite facing what is expected to be its smallest maize harvest in at least 25 years, the French agriculture ministry argues that EU crisis funds should remain focused on market disruptions rather than climate events. Instead, Paris favours subsidised crop insurance and dedicated climate-risk mechanisms.
The German Farmers’ Association also backs adaptation investments provided they come with financial support rather than additional regulatory obligations.
Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen has similarly argued that Europe cannot compensate every drought-related loss indefinitely.
Without greater contributions from member states, Hansen believes the bloc must focus on strengthening its capacity to withstand future climate shocks through approaches such as irrigation infrastructure, water-storage projects, long-term adaptation measures, and insurance schemes supported by the European Investment Bank.
