Bulgaria’s August 2026 was one of the country’s warmest, driest Augusts since 1930
The month of August 2026 in Bulgaria was among the warmest and driest August months since 1930, the national meteorological bureau said in a regular report on September 1.
The average monthly air temperature for the country was about 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than that in August 2025 and it was the fourth warmest August since 1930, immediately after the record-breaking 2024, 2010 and 1950, the national meteorological bureau said.
Bulgaria’s August 2026 was also the driest since 1988 and one of the driest Augusts to date, the report said.
The average monthly temperatures measured at weather stations in populated areas were between 20 and 28 degrees Celsius, deviating from the monthly norm by between minus 1.4 and plus 3.4 degrees.
The highest measured temperature was 40.5 degrees on August 21 in the village of Novachene, Pleven district.
The lowest minimum temperature in a station in a populated area was 4.5 degrees in Samokov on August 16, and the lowest temperature measured on a mountain peak was 0 degrees on Musala peak on August 15.
In Bulgaria’s capital city Sofia, the highest measured temperature was 35.6 degrees on August 21, and the lowest, 11.9 degrees on August 16.
The monthly amounts of rain were between 0 per cent (Borima village, Lovech district) and 87 per cent (Rozhen peak) of the climatic norm.
The most abundant and massive amounts of rain were measured on August 25, when the largest 24-hour amount was also recorded – 59mm in the village of Sestrimo, Pazardzhik district. On this day, large amounts of rain were also registered in the districts of Kyustendil, Blagoevgrad and Smolyan.
In Sofia, the monthly amount of rain was 24.4mm, which is 44 per cent of the norm, and the maximum 24-hour rain was 19.6mm on August 25.
In August, forest and field fires were registered in many places in Bulgaria, the report said.
The largest fire was on August 23, which started from burning dry grass, forest litter and bushes in the area of the village of Dinevo in Haskovo, which burned down nearly 1000 hectares of land. The fire also entered the Koren military training ground.
Large fires were also registered in the village of Shuma, Godech municipality (August 1), the village of Rogozinovo, Harmanli municipality (August 3), the village of Slavovitsa and the village of Tserovo, Septemvri municipality (August 6), the village of Bulgarska Polyana, Topolovgrad municipality, the village of Vinogradets and the village of Karabunar, Septemvri municipality (August 11), the village of Gradets and the village of Medven, Kotel municipality (August 20).
After a period of dry and warm weather, on August 24, several local floods caused significant damage in the municipalities of Strumyani, Batak, Peshtera and Sofia, the meteorological bureau said.
A state of emergency was declared in the municipality of Strumyani after two tidal waves on the Shashka and Zlinska mountain rivers. Homes were flooded, infrastructure was destroyed, the railway line was disrupted, and electricity and water supplies to the villages of Ploski, Ilindentsi, Strumyani, Mikrevo and Drakata were disrupted.
A state of emergency was also declared in the municipalities of Peshtera and Batak, where the overflowing Stara Reka flooded dozens of properties and left stones, mud and trees on the streets. The Peshtera-Batak main road was closed to traffic because of landslides and fallen trees.
In Sofia, a strong thunderstorm with torrential rain accompanied by hail blocked traffic, and cars were damaged.
During most of August, river levels in the country decreased or remained unchanged, the report said.
In August, precipitation in the agricultural zone, with minor exceptions in the northeastern and southwestern regions, was below 30 per cent of the monthly norm.
As a result of below-normal rain and above-normal temperatures, the drought during the month deepened. The dry and compacted soil hindered pre-sowing cultivation of the areas intended for sowing with winter rapeseed, the report said.
(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
