Coldest early April in 30 years brings devastation to fruit crops

Catalonia has been going through unseasonably low temperatures for a few days due to cold weather coming from the Arctic sea, with thermometers falling to levels unseen for around 30 years in many places for the first days of April.

While this has left unexpected white landscapes in the outskirts of Barcelona as well as other areas close to the sea level, the impact has been predominantly negative, since tens of thousands of hectares of fruit crops have been damaged due to frost especially in western Catalonia in the past three nights.

In the Lleida region, temperatures on Monday night have dropped to -5C and -6C, which may have ended hopes to save a small part of the crops for many farmers.

On Monday, before the third night of frost, the Catalan climate action department had already estimated at 80% to 100% the losses in almond trees and stone fruit, such as apricots, cherries, peaches, nectarines, and plums. The same report stated that 49,798 hectares had been affected by the severe weather.

Around 40% to 50% of apple and pear trees had been affected in the first two nights of frost.

Already on Sunday, after the first night of temperatures below zero, Asaja Lleida farmers' association had already estimated a significant drop in production, and had already warned of a "catastrophic" situation if the frost was repeated.

After three nights of unusually cold weather, Unió de Pagesos trade union and JARC young farmers' association have already announced that they will ask for extraordinary measures from the public administration in order to ease the damage for their businesses.

Indeed, the demand for seasonal harvesters for this summer is set to drop significantly.

Coldest April in 30 to 50 years

The Catalan meteo service (Meteocat) said on Monday evening that the country has gone through the coldest first week of April in, at least, 30 years. On April 4, 1996 similar unseasonably low temperatures were registered in some inland areas, but a widespread comparison in western Catalonia can only be made with April 20 and 21, 1991.

Yet, Barcelona's Fabra Observatory, in the Collserola mountain range, registered a temperature of 0.5C on April 2, only higher than the 0.0C recorded on April 9, 1973.

In Lleida, the temperature dropped to -2.1C on April 3, the lowest in 36 years.

Also according to Meteocat, in some mountain areas, temperatures of -15C and -16C have surpassed the coldest days from the winter. Snow hit the Pyrenees during the weekend and the counties nearby, such as Berguedà and Osona, but some flurries were seen in coastal counties such as Garraf, Baix Llobregat, Barcelonès, and Maresme.