TIRANAFollowing a hot wave that disrupted daily life and caused problems with agriculture and power, the Western Balkans are currently experiencing a severe drought.
Central Albania saw temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Thursday, and forecasters cautioned that there would not be much precipitation until September. Due to insufficient rainfall throughout the winter and spring, rivers are nearly dry.
Authorities in Albania have been forced to support local agriculture with irrigation networks due to the extreme heat. Tuesday marked the completion of a project that would use water from the northern Mat River to irrigate around 4,000 hectares (9,885 acres) of local agricultural land.
The production of electricity in Albania, which is primarily derived from hydropower plants in the country’s north, has also suffered. In the first half of this year, the national power corporation imported electricity at a cost of up to 60 million euros ($70 million).
The country’s crops are suffering from severe drought, according to the state meteorological institute of Serbia, while river and lake levels have decreased.
Drinking water is similarly limited in Serbia’s small towns and villages.
An open-air pool in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, that people used to cool off in the summer heat was shut down due to a water shortage.
Constructed as a leisure facility in the late 1980s, the Germia swimming pool on the city’s outskirts is regarded as one of the largest on the continent. Between 4,000 and 5,000 people visited the pool each day at this time last year.
The pool’s natural water supplies come from the hills and mountains that surround Germia Park, which is well-known for its recreational opportunities and natural beauty. However, the 20,000 cubic meters (5.3 million gallons) of water required this year was inaccessible to the pool’s employees.
The pool has taken six days to fill in the past, but due to the drought, it will take more than three weeks this year, according to manager Bardh Krasniqi.
Krasniqi stated, “Unfortunately, we have not been able to open the largest pool in the country due to the strong heat wave that is currently affecting the country and also the region.”
The Health Institute advised people to avoid direct sunlight and advised youngsters, the elderly, and those who were ill to stay indoors on Thursday, when the temperature was predicted to hit 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit).
The southern Bosnian town of Mostar saw temperatures of 41 C (105.8 F) on Thursday, and the streets were nearly deserted due to the intense heat.
In Mora, Portugal, sweltering temperatures rose to 46.6 C (115.9 F) during the recent European heat wave.The area experiences a lot of wildfires during the hot, dry summers.
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Contributions to this article came from Florent Bajrami in Pristina, Kosovo, and Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Serbia.
