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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Rachel Salvidge

Revealed: Europe’s water reserves drying up due to climate breakdown

Parched land at Cueva de Las Niñas reservoir in the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, in March 2025.
Parched land at Cueva de Las Niñas reservoir in the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, in March 2025. Photograph: Borja Suárez/Reuters

Vast swathes of Europe’s water reserves are drying up, a new analysis using two decades of satellite data reveals, with freshwater storage shrinking across southern and central Europe, from Spain and Italy to Poland and parts of the UK.

Scientists at University College London (UCL), working with Watershed Investigations and the Guardian, analysed 2002–24 data from satellites, which track changes in Earth’s gravitational field.

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