Unseasonably cold temperatures across parts of Western Europe have threatened vineyards and groves of fruit trees, as frost damages delicate new buds. Days of record-low overnight temperatures have spurred winegrowers and other farmers to take action to protect their crops—some opting to spray water on their plants so a layer of ice will shield them from the frost, and others choosing to light many small fires in their fields, slightly warming the plants and generating air movement, hoping to prevent pockets of extremely cold air from forming. Collected here are images of this battle against the elements in France, Italy, Belgium, and Switzerland.
Protecting Crops Against a Spring Frost
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![A blossoming tree branch is encased in ice.]()
Read moreA picture taken early on April 8, 2021, shows fruit trees in blossom encased in ice, part of an effort to fight frost, in the Swiss Alps in Saillon, near Martigny. #
Fabrice Coffrini / AFP / Getty -
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![Water is sprayed on young fruit trees.]()
Read moreThe Bayard Tower is seen near fruit trees in blossom that are being sprayed with water to encase them in ice, to protect against frost, in Saillon near Martigny, Switzerland, on April 8, 2021. #
Fabrice Coffrini / AFP / Getty -
![Rows of trees stand encased in ice.]()
Read moreA picture taken on April 8, 2021, shows fruit encased in a protective layer of ice, near Martigny. #
Fabrice Coffrini / AFP / Getty -
![A large candle burns among blossoming trees.]()
Read moreA picture taken early on April 8, 2021, shows a burning candle at the foot of apricot trees in blossom in Saillon, Switzerland. The large paraffin candles give off enough heat to create air movement, which prevents a frost pocket from forming. #
Fabrice Coffrini / AFP / Getty -
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![A person lights a bale of straw on fire in a field.]()
Read moreA winegrower burns a bale of straw in the vineyards to protect them from frost on April 7, 2021, as the sun rises over the Vouvray vineyard in Touraine, France. #
Guillaume Souvant / AFP / Getty -
![Candles burn among hillside vineyards, seen in the late evening.]()
Read moreRows of burning candles sit close to the vines at a vineyard to keep the plants protected from frost on April 8, 2021, in Fully, Switzerland. #
Fabrice Coffrini / AFP / Getty -
![Fires burn in small metal chimneys among apricot trees.]()
Read moreFires burn in small metal chimneys to protect the delicate blossoms of apricot trees from frost damage in Aggstein, Austria, on April 9, 2021. #
Georg Hochmuth / APA / AFP / Getty -
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![A person lights a large candle in a vineyard at night.]()
Read moreSpecial candles are lit to protect the vines against frost damage, in the Domaine de la Portelette in Lobbes, Belgium, on April 13, 2021. #
Virginie Lefour / Belga Mag / AFP / Getty -
![Large candles burn among cherry trees.]()
Read moreA view of burning candles among cherry trees on Les Hetres farm at Rosoux-Crenwick, Belgium, early on April 13, 2021 #
Eric Lalmand / Belga / AFP / Getty -
![A person checks the weather using their phone, at night, in a vineyard, at night.]()
Read moreThe winegrower Pierre-Marie Luneau checks the temperature on his smartphone during the burning of anti-frost candles at the Luneau-Papin vineyard in Le Landreau, near Nantes, France, on April 12, 2021. #
Sebastien Salom-Gomis / AFP / Getty -
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![An aerial view of large candles burning among a fruit tree grove.]()
Read moreAn aerial view of fruit trees protected against frost by burning candles in Rosoux-Crenwick, Belgium, on April 13, 2021 #
Eric Lalmand / Belga Mag / AFP / Getty -
![Cherry tree flowers are seen, with the sun rising in the background]()
Read moreCherry-tree flowers are seen with the sun rising in the background in Rosoux-Crenwick, on April 13, 2021. #
Eric Lalmand / Belga Mag / AFP / Getty -
![Smoke rises above a vineyard at sunrise.]()
Read moreSmoke rises from fires lit in the vineyards to protect them from frost at the Vouvray vineyard in Touraine, on April 7, 2021. #
Guillaume Souvant / AFP / Getty -
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![A view of hillside vineyards.]()
Read moreThis picture taken on April 12, 2021, in Ampuis near Vienne, France, shows a Côte-Rôtie vineyard after a frost wave devastated the famous vineyards. #
Philippe Desmazes / AFP / Getty -
![Damaged vine buds are seen in a vineyard.]()
Read moreThis picture taken on April 12, 2021, in a Côte-Rôtie vineyard in Ampuis shows vine buds damaged by frost the week before. #
Philippe Desmazes / AFP / Getty -
![Water is sprayed over a vineyard.]()
Read moreWater is sprayed in the early morning in the Chablis vineyards, near Chablis, Burgundy, on April 7, 2021, as temperatures fall below freezing during the night. #
Jeff Pachoud / AFP / Getty -
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![Ice covers blossoming apple trees.]()
Read moreA tree grower stands by apple trees that are covered with a layer of ice, after being watered to protect from frost, at their orchard in La Palazzetta, an Italian village located some 100 kilometers from Milan, on April 8, 2021. #
Piero Cruciatti / AFP / Getty -
![People check on burning candles in a vineyard.]()
Read moreThe winegrowers Pierre-Marie (left) and Marie Luneau check vines during the burning of anti-frost candles in the Luneau-Papin vineyard in Le Landreau, France, on April 12, 2021. #
Sebastien Salom-Gomis / AFP / Getty -
![A man lights a large straw bale on fire.]()
Read moreThe winegrower Jean De Saint Venant burns a bale of straw in the vineyards to protect them from frost at the Château de Valmer, an estate at the Vouvray vineyard in Touraine, France, on April 6, 2021. #
Guillaume Souvant / AFP / Getty -
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![Fires burn in a vineyard at night.]()
Read moreFires burn to protect against frost damage at the Vouvray vineyard in Touraine on April 7, 2021. #
Guillaume Souvant / AFP / Getty -
![A person checks on vine buds.]()
Read moreThe winegrower Pierre-Marie Luneau checks vine buds during the burning of anti-frost candles in the Luneau-Papin vineyard on April 12, 2021. #
Sebastien Salom-Gomis / AFP / Getty -
![A person walks among large burning candles in a vineyard at night.]()
Read moreA winegrower from the Luneau-Papin estate lights anti-frost candles in the vineyard in Le Landreau, near Nantes, western France, on April 12, 2021. #
Sebastien Salom-Gomis / AFP / Getty -
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