Weatherwatch: Flash droughts come on quickly but effects can wreak havoc

Better water management and efficient irrigation required to tackle issue, which can increase risk of wildfires

Droughts have occurred throughout history, but in recent years meteorologists have discovered a new and distinct form of this old threat: flash droughts.

Flash droughts came to prominence in the 2010s, with Prof Jason Otkin of the University of Wisconsin proposing a formal definition in 2018: a period of less than three weeks in which the moisture level in the top 40 centimetres of soil drops severely enough to affect vegetation.