Hydrological shortage in Flanders exceeds that of 1976 and 2018

According to the KU Leuven professor, the hydrological deficit is more than 350 millimeters, or 350 liters of water per square kilometer. This is an average for the whole of Flanders, with some regions – such as parts of East and West Flanders – being hit harder than others.

The precipitation deficit is calculated from the start of the hydrological summer, on April 1. From then on, proportionally more water evaporates than precipitation falls. So now, after more than 150 days, we have a historically high deficit, according to data from Patrick Willems.

Such a hydrological deficiency occurs on average about once every fifty years, according to the table on Twitter. Not only the lack of rain was striking this year, but also the large evaporation due to the many sunshine and high temperatures, Willems said earlier.