According to the latest data from the European Drought Observatory (EDO), analyzed by AFP, 45 percent of southern Europe suffered from soil drought, with 2.8 percent reaching the highest warning level in the first 10 days of February. Meanwhile, according to Copernicus, a quarter of all of Europe and North Africa are in drought conditions , with 19.3 percent of the region's land at an "alert" level, meaning a moisture deficit is underway.

The alert level covers 2.5 percent of the region, meaning vegetation is growing abnormally due to an advanced stage of drought, according to AFP calculations.

The situation has worsened since the end of January, but has slightly improved compared to the same period last year, when 31.3 percent of the territory was dry.

The western Mediterranean region, including southern Italy, Spain, northern Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, was particularly hard hit. (More on phys.org)