MARS: mild winter - with low frost resistance scarcely any risk of outgrowth The months of January and February 2019 showed with few exceptions mainly mild temperatures in large parts of Europe. Rainfall levels are mostly below the long-term average level. This is the result of the climate data evaluation of the Agrometeorological Institute (MARS) of the European Commission (EU-KOM). In Spain and France , there were mostly temperatures that differ by a few degrees from the long-term average. But the rainfall was insufficient. In large parts of Spain , the rain deficits reached orders of magnitude of -50 to -100%. In France , the lack of precipitation is less pronounced. The lack of rain is mainly between -10 to -50%. Great Britain benefits from the maritime climate. The temperatures deviate only insignificantly from the long-term average upwards.But precipitation is mostly disappointingly low at -10 to -30%. Some regions in the northwest have been hit even harder. In Germany , the average temperatures are +0.5 to +2 degrees above the long-term average. In the northeast alone, there were spots of deviations upwards. Rainfall is lower on average across the country but varies greatly in different regions. In the northeast comparable rainfall is absent, in some low mountain ranges and in the southeast precipitation was above average, while in the southwest there are larger areas with a rain deficit. In Poland , the temperature conditions were similar to those in Germany. Precipitation was in the central region with -10 to -30% deficit, in other areas just above average. In the Baltic and Scandinavian states , there were only slight deviations from the mean values in terms of temperature.Rains were slightly above average in trend. In the south-eastern European countries , temperatures were mostly mild, with regional exceptions. In terms of precipitation, however, there is a colorful mix of deficit and surplus. As a rule, the altitudes have gotten more rain than large depressions. A pronounced rain deficit between -50 to -100% can be observed in the southern district of Russia . In this area, much of the Russian grain is produced, which is responsible for exports due to its proximity to export ports on the Black Sea. The central district also has below-average rainfall of -10 to -30% . Nothing has yet been made known about possible dry damage. The problem of drought damage, however, is yet to come when the rainfall in the coming months seasonally smaller. As a rule, the snowmelt is consumed in these regions.Overall, it should be noted that due to the drought last year, the groundwater supplies are not replenished to the usual extent due to the predominantly low precipitation winter . It will depend very much on the further spring and early summer development , if and to what extent the conditions for a normal harvest are reached.
