Warmer-than-usual weather conditions in many parts of Europe have left grain crops exposed to damage from a cold spell which could come as soon as this week in eastern Europe, the European Union's crop monitoring service MARS said on Monday. Indications pointed to weak frost tolerance in most of the EU, except for some parts of Finland, Sweden and the Baltic States, where the winter crops are in a partial or advanced hardening state, MARS said.

Hardening is the process whereby winter cereals gain low-temperature tolerance to withstand freezing conditions that occur during the winter dormancy period. "The current situation is delicate, since a cold air intrusion could cause considerable frost-kill damage in the areas characterised by no snow cover and low frost tolerance of winter crops," MARS said. For the second half of December MARS forecast colder-than-usual weather conditions in south-eastern Europe, Italy, France and southern Germany, while the Baltic countries would record warmer-than-usual weather.

Copyright Reuters, 2016