News Weather
New night frost wave worries farmer
At the end of the week, heavy night frost is again expected in a large number of European countries. It is also getting cold in the Netherlands, although it seems to be not too bad here. Especially in France, Germany and Poland, the temperature can drop considerably.
In mid-April, night frost already dealt a blow. It kept fruit growers in the Netherlands especially busy at night. Damage to early potato crops and sugar beet was limited, although this was not the case everywhere. In France, considerable damage was found locally in the sugar beet and frozen plants were also found in the early German potato areas gevonden.
New frost
This was followed by considerably warmer weather, and the month of April even ended up in the top 10 of the hottest and driest April since the start of the measurement. Another cold wave is expected before the beginning of May. An arctic current brings much colder air towards Europe, causing the temperature to drop considerably between 3 and 7 May during the day and at night. It may be the coldest May 4 and 5 in 30 years, meteorologists think.
With a maximum temperature of 10 to 13 degrees, which can feel down to values below zero with a northerly wind, it can also be called fresh. At night, night frost is expected to be limited to 1 degree, or slightly more in the border region.
Far from ideal
The situation is different for France, Germany and Poland. In these countries it can freeze 3 to 4 degrees and on the ground it can be as low as -7 degrees Celsius locally. For the young sugar beet plants and the potatoes that are just emerging, this is far from ideal, to say the least. Farmers are therefore concerned.
In Poland it was also quite cold before Easter. Early potato crops, both under foil and uncovered, suffered local frost damage. This leads to a delay in the harvest forecast. The cold weather at the beginning of May causes problems again.
Dry and cold
The current weather forecasts speak of low temperatures during the first 3 weeks in May. In the first full week of this month, the weather may warm up somewhat, but it will remain colder than usual. Significantly warmer weather is not expected until the end of the month. Occasionally there may be a shower, but large amounts of precipitation will not come. Hail or sleet can sometimes fall next weekend.
Dutch arable farmers will not fear much for the coming night frost, although the weather is not growing. Drought is currently a bigger concern. Incidentally, this is the case in all countries in Northwestern and Central Europe.
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Niels van der Boom
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