Summer 2020 Characterised by Heatwave, Drought

As the meteorological summer has now concluded, the State Weather Service of ASTA (Administration des services techniques de l'agriculture) of Luxembourg's Ministry of Agriculture, Viticulture and Rural Development has published its analysis of the weather over the summer (officially 1 June March - 31 August) and the consequences for the agriculture sector.

Summer 2020 was +0.7°C warmer and significantly drier than average. July and August witnessed severe drought and August saw a 12-day heatwave. While the temperatures in June and July 2020 were somewhat average, August 2020 was the second warmest recorded nationwide since temperature records began in 1838.  The maximum temperature was recorded at 38.3°C on 9 August in Steinsel.

In July and August, apart from a few local thunderstorms and on the last weekend in August, almost no rain fell. The south and the Moselle region in particular suffered from the drought.

The weather data comes from the measurement network of 32 automatic weather stations from all regions of Luxembourg. This year the values of the four representative stations Asselborn (north), Clemency (south-west), Remich (Moselle valley) and Grevenmacher (Moselle valley) were compared with the average values for the reference period 1981-2010.

The drought and the heatwave in August led to a strong drying out of the topsoil, which has not yet recovered from the lack of rain in spring.