The meteorological service 'AgriMeteo' has recently announced that 2024 is the rainiest year on record in the Grand Duchy since 1854, as well as one of the 10 warmest years.
The numbers shared by AgriMeteo have proven that 2024 has been the wettest year since the beginning of rainfall measurements in 1854.
With an average amount of 1195.7mm, the registered precipitations exhibit a significant excess of 357.3mm, or 42.6%, in comparison to the normal rate of 838.4mm. With a total of 1463.5mm of precipitation, Arsdorf was deemed the rainiest village, while Remich was the "driest" with only 952.7mm.
November and December were the only months in 2024 to experience a rainfall deficit. The Grand Duchy recorded 140 rainy days with at least 1 mm of precipitation (14 more days than usual) and 35 days with at least 10 mm of rain (11 more days than normal).
2024 is classified among the 10 warmest years ever recorded in Luxembourg. The annual average temperature is 10.6°C, which is 0.7°C over the referential period of 1991-2020. With the exception of January, June, July, and December, all other months have had superior temperatures to what is considered normal. As a consequence, the winter of 2023/2024 was the warmest winter, with an average temperature of 4.2°C, thus 1.6°C warmer.
Due to accurate climate readings from a network of 41 automatic weather stations spread across the country's four regions, AgriMeteo has been documenting global warming in the Grand Duchy since 1838. The 10 warmest years were all recorded between 2004 and 2024, and since 1840, each of the last three decades has been warmer than the one before.
Late frost, longer low temperatures
When it comes to agriculture, the excess rain over the whole year has impeded and delayed work in the fields as well as the sowing of crops. Even the harvest had to be done quickly between two showers, and cereal yields were quite disappointing.
On a positive note, the potato crops have benefitted from the absence of dryness, which resulted in an abundant produce of good quality.
In terms of grape crops, the late low temperatures in April and fungal diseases led to damage, so winegrowers have not been able to achieve the average yield for the Moselle for several years. However, 2024 produced grapes of excellent quality that will produce exquisite wines.
The late frost has also damaged fruit crops, in particular cherries and pears. The abundant rain in spring and summer has created a favourable environment for plant diseases and pests.
However, market garden crops and fruit trees required less watering than usual this summer.
