Huge swathes of farmland destroyed by hailstorms, Europe
Image credit: VVaG
Very heavy rain, strong winds, and intense hailstorms affecting parts of central Europe during the second half of June 2021 left more than 66 000 ha (163 090 acres) of crops damaged or destroyed. The figure doubled within just a few days and it still might rise as damage assessment continues.
After the first surveys by crop insurance company Vereinigte Hagel (VVaG), they now expect damage of about 20 to 23 million euros, which is more than a double compared to the beginning of last week.
The worst affected countries are France, Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic.
Keep in mind that these figures are from insured crops by VVaG. The actual figures are much much higher.
Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
Published in the last 24 hours
- FAA grounds all departing flights across the US after communications outage hits air traffic control centers nationwide
- Second nationwide US flight halt since 9/11: how the November 13 FAA ground stop compares with September 2001 and January 2023 Epicenter
- In September 1859, a solar storm lit up the night sky so brightly that gold miners in the Rocky Mountains woke up after midnight and started cooking breakfast, convinced the aurora glowing over their camp was the sunrise Epicenter
- A patch of warm Pacific water that could become the strongest El Niño in more than 70 years sits thousands of miles from any American town, yet it is already the main reason NOAA expects a wetter winter across the South and a milder one across the North

