Bulgaria’s summer 2025 one of the hottest, driest in 75 years – official report

Bulgaria’s summer 2025 was one of the country’s hottest and driest summers since 1950, the national meteorological bureau said in a report.

The report refers to meteorological summer, the calendar three-month period from June 1 to August 31 2025, while astronomical summer begins with the occurrence of the summer solstice on June 21 2025 and continues until the autumnal equinox on September 22 2025.

The meteorological bureau said that summer 2025 in Bulgaria hadaverage seasonal temperatures above the norm, deviating from it between plus 0.5 and 3 degrees Celsius.

It is less hot than the hottest summer in the past 13 years, summer 2024, but it was also one of the hottest summers in Bulgaria since 1950.

Summer 2025 was also one of the driest summers in Bulgaria since 1950, similar to the summers of 2000 and 2012.

Seasonal precipitation amounts were below the climate norm – between seven and 74 per cent of it, the meteorological bureau said.

June 2025 was less warm than June 2024, but much warmer than June 2023.

July 2025 was one of the hottest after July 2012 and 2024, but August 2025 was the least warm August in the past five years.

The highest measured temperature was 43.5 degrees on July 26 in the city of Montana.

In Bulgaria’s capital city Sofia, the highest measured temperature was38.2 degrees on July 26, and the lowest, 6.6 degrees on August 26.

June 2025 was the driest June since 1950, July 2025 was the driest July since 2017 and August 2025 has more precipitation than August 2024, the report said.

The highest measured 24-hour precipitation was 71mm of rain in the village of Gramatikovo, Bourgas district, on August 20.

In Sofia, the highest 24-hour precipitation was on June 28, with 30mm of rain.

The report said that Bulgaria’s summer 2025 was characterized by prolonged heat waves, numerous large field and forest fires, short-lived severe storms with hail, and local flooding due to intense rainfall.

In June, the development of agricultural crops proceeds at an accelerated pace, at above-normal temperatures. In the second and third 10-day periods, extremely high temperatures were registered, which adversely affected the growth and development of plants.

Below-normal precipitation and high water consumption by plants during the period were a prerequisite for intensive consumption of soil moisture reserves. This causes widespread extreme soil and atmospheric drought.

In July, dry and hot weather calls into question the survival of some of the spring crops grown under non-irrigated conditions.

As a result of below-normal rainfall towards the end of the month, productive soil moisture reserves were completely depleted in many of the country’s field regions.

With the deepening moisture deficit, a large part of the sunflower grown under non-irrigated conditions has severely impaired turgor, with small, poorly decorated cobs.

In corn crops, yellowing and drying of the leaves on the lower floors of the plants was observed.

As a result of the unfavorable agrometeorological conditions, damage to agricultural crops was worsening – leaf scorch on corn and sunflower, sterility in vegetable crops from late production, premature leaf fall in some perennial crops.

In the first half of August, the deepening summer drought and extremely high temperatures compromised the corn and sunflower harvest in many places in the country. Sunflower yields are unusually low, in places – below 100 kg/0.1ha, and a significant part of the corn crops grown under non-irrigated conditions will not be harvested.

The precipitation at the end of the second and third decade of August was unevenly distributed and too late for late crops grown under non-irrigated conditions. The precipitation at the end of August moistens mainly the upper soil layer and improves the conditions for deep plowing and pre-sowing cultivation of the areas intended for sowing with autumn crops.

At the end of the month, there was no productive moisture in the 50 and 100 cm soil layer.

As a result of the above-average summer temperatures, early white wine grape varieties matured much earlier than usual.

During most of the summer season, river levels in Bulgaria remained unchanged or decreased.

During the three summer months, the water levels of all rivers were below the monthly norms, the meteorological bureau said.

(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)