This summer's heat and drought hit European crop yields hard

Record heat, drought and wildfires across Europe this summer have driven down crop yields sharply, with global food prices climbing to their highest level since early 2023, according to a Carbon Brief analysis of six charts tracking the damage.

EU cereal production is expected to fall 9% compared with 2025. France, the bloc's largest grain producer, is set to lose nearly 8 million tonnes, while Germany faces losses of around 4 million tonnes. Maize is hit hardest: EU-wide production is projected to drop 13%, its lowest level since 2007, with France's maize harvest falling to its smallest since 1980 — down more than a third.

The UK is on track for its worst cereal and oilseed harvest since detailed records began in 1984, with wheat yields down 6%, barley down 15% and oats down 14%. Slovakia and Austria saw the sharpest yield declines in tonnes per hectare. A single June heatwave is estimated to have caused €2–2.3 billion in cumulative grain losses across the continent, including €891 million in lost French revenue alone.

Beyond grain, the analysis notes shrunken Dutch potatoes, smaller French carrots, parched Italian rice fields and damaged Mediterranean olive groves. "Farming must adapt better to more extreme weather conditions, not only heat and drought, but also prolonged wet periods," agricultural scientist Prof Til Feike said.

Reporting by Carbon Brief Staff. Source: https://www.carbonbrief.org/how-this-summers-heat-and-drought-impacted-crops-in-europe-in-six-charts