Overall, the total January to April precipitation in WesternEurope was 11% and 19% below the recent five-year and thirteen-year averages, respectively,with exceptional positive departures over northwestern France, southeasternFrance, and northern Italy. Temperature showed an increase of 2.3°C and 2.0°Ccompared with the same two references periods. The spatial distribution oftemperature show a positive departure in the west and negative in the east,especially in late January and early April. PAR displays a decrease of 2%compared to the past five-year average. The cropped arable land fractionreached 96.6% during the monitoring period.

The average maximum VCI values reach a high value of 0.9,indicating favorable crop condition, but lower values are seen for south andeast Spain (Aragon and Castilla), southwest France (Central Midi-Pyrenees andeast Brittany), and in the United Kingdom (Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire).The VHI values show a poor condition in western Germany, France, east and southSpain, eastern Italy and eastern United Kingdom compared to the last five-years,due (in varying extends) to low precipitation. As a result of poor environmentalconditions, biomass is below the five-year average in Germany, Czechia, centralFrance, and southern France and Spain, again because of low precipitation. Ingeneral, the biomass accumulation of the whole MPZ shows a decrease of 9%compared to average.

Figure 2.5. Western Europe MPZ: Agroclimaticand agronomic indicators, January-April 2014