Europe is burning in the heat, with temperatures in some countries exceeding 40°C, and electricity prices soaring as demand for cool air increases.  But a bigger concern is drought. The European Union has warned of a possible drop in crop yields in France, Romania, Spain, Portugal and Italy because of water shortages and high temperatures. It has also affected power supplies.  The drought is a gift from nature for Putin, and Europe's power supply is likely to worsen, Bloomberg said.
Much of Europe has had little rain since last winter, when unusually high Christmas temperatures helped Europe weather its energy crisis at the expense of less snow than usual in the Alps, Pyrenees and other mountains and a lack of snow melt in late winter and early spring.  The Rhine river in Europe, the Epolo river in Spain, the Rhone river in Switzerland and France and the Po river in Italy, the longest river in Italy, is in its worst drought in 70 years. 
 
 
 
The drought has hit not only agricultural harvests but also electricity, most notably hydropower.  Hydropower used to be the fourth-largest source of electricity in the EU, after gas, nuclear and wind, which account for nearly 14% of all electricity and generate almost as much electricity.  France's hydroelectric capacity is at its lowest in a decade, forcing countries to burn more gas. 
 
 
 
In addition to affecting hydropower, the drought has caused a series of power supply crises, including Germany's coal-fired power stations, which rely on barges from waterways such as the Rhine for fuel, and France's nuclear plants, which rely on rivers for cooling.  Edf, which recently operates Europe's largest nuclear power plant, warned it may cut some capacity this summer as drought reduces the amount of river water that can be cooled, and was forced to limit output at Its Lyon plant when river levels fell in June, the paper said.  The Rhine river in Germany is the cheapest and easiest way to transport coal from Rotterdam to southern Germany. German coal-fired power stations usually replenish stocks during the high water periods when snow melts in spring. 
 
 
 
Without hydro, coal and nuclear production, Europe will be left with wind and solar, both of which are subject to the vagaries of weather and natural gas supplies.  In Germany, where wind power has been reduced due to warm air, solar power has been used to make up for the shortage.  The surge in prices is another blow to millions of Homes and factories in Germany as electricity prices more than doubled in the short term due to tight supplies. 
 
 
 
The problem is unlikely to be solved anytime soon. The European Commission's Joint Research Centre reported in July that nearly half of eu countries now face drought warnings.  The drought will last longer than the current heat wave and exacerbate energy shortages, making it a more worrying climate crisis for Europe than the heat wave, Bloomberg said.  (End)