In 2018, large parts of northern Europe were affected by an extreme drought. A better
understanding of the characteristics and the large-scale atmospheric circulation driving such
events is of high importance to enhance drought forecasting and mitigation. This paper
examines the historical extremeness of the May–August 2018 meteorological situation and
the accompanying meteorological and hydrological (streamflow and groundwater) drought.
Further, it investigates the relation between the large-scale atmospheric circulation and …

In Europe, several extreme summer drought events have occurred the last two decades, with
the 2018 Northern European drought as the most recent example. A better understanding of
the combined characteristics and the large-scale atmospheric circulation driving such events
is of high importance to enhance preparation and mitigation planning of drought. Initial
analysis based on the E-OBS daily gridded observational datasets, showed record-breaking
May and July temperature in large parts of northern Europe caused by blocking systems …