Rains aid Europe's crops amid climate swings

BONN, Germany, May 12 (Reuters) Rains are reviving parched European crops and cargo ships are plying the Rhine fully loaded for the first time in a month but worries remain that global warming is skewing the continent's weather.

Last month was the warmest April in France since 1950, the driest in Germany since 1893 and the hottest in Italy since 1800.

Italy's government declared a state of emergency for rain-starved northern and central regions a week ago, just as torrential rain was falling.

''The European climate certainly is changing,'' Yvo de Boer, the head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, told Reuters at a meeting of 166 nations debating how to slow climate change.

''We've had a dry winter with little snow and an usually mild spring which the meteorologists are saying is very unusual.'' De Boer was unable to say if the big swings were due to the natural variability of the weather or part of a longer term warming trend blamed by UN scientists on human emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly from burning fossil fuels.

A UN climate report in April predicted increasing disruptions worldwide including ever drier conditions around the Mediterranean, central and eastern Europe.

Wheat prices are down from recent peaks after rains in many regions although the association of German beer brewers said in late April that beer prices could rise because a poor harvest would affect hops and malt supplies.

Surcharges for cargo ships on the Rhine and Danube rivers, two of Europe's largest transport arteries, were lifted this week because of higher water levels. In April, freighters could sail only partly full because of low water levels.

JUST IN TIME ''There is great relief that rain has come just in time, especially in the north,'' one German grain trader said. ''But the ground is often so dry that much more rain than usual will be needed to reach roots.'' In Paris, wheat for November delivery was at 149 euros 200.8 dollars a tonne yesterday, up from a mid-week low of 144.25 on worries that the rains would be insufficient, but down from a late April peak of 153.25 euros.

Italy's Civil Defence projected on May 6 that average temperatures for May-July would be up to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above usual levels, with possible heatwaves, and much less rain than usual.

The Italian government declared the state of emergency after water levels in Italy's biggest river, the Po, and major northern lakes fell close to or below critical levels.

The government has said it would increase imports of electricity, take measures to store more water - necessary for cooling down thermoelectric power stations - in major reservoirs and curb power demand by striking deals with industrial clients to interrupt supplies when needed.

British meteorological experts have said that 2007 may turn out to be the warmest year worldwide since records began in the 1860s, eclipsing 1998 and 2005.

The UN climate panel said that ''in southern Europe, climate change is projected to worsen conditions -- high temperatures and drought -- in a region already vulnerable to climate variability.'' It projected less hydropower potential, crop productivity and summer tourism. It also foresaw less rain in central and eastern Europe in summer, raising risks of fires and heatwaves.

For northern Europe, it said there could be some benefits such as higher crop yields and better forest growth.

In Norway, reservoirs that provide almost all the country's electricity are slightly fuller than usual.

''At the moment the situation is quite normal,'' said Lasse Torgersen at the Econ think-tank in Oslo. ''But there are more changes, from one extreme to another.'' REUTERS GP RK0915