April 2021 spring frost (France)

The April 2021 frost is the late-frost event that struck almost all of mainland France between April 6 and 8, 2021. At the end of March, an exceptionally warm spell, above 25°C in places, had pushed vines into budbreak and orchards into bloom early. An Arctic air mass then drove minimum temperatures well below freezing for several nights in a row. The agriculture ministry called it “the greatest agronomic disaster of the early 21st century.” The wine trade body estimated that 80% of French vineyards were hit. Agreste cut its wine harvest forecast to roughly 33 to 36 million hectoliters, below the frost vintages of 1991 and 2017. On April 17, the prime minister announced a package of about 1 billion euros, including 500 million for an uncapped agricultural calamities payout, with the rate raised to as much as 40% for orchards. Winegrowers, removed from the calamities scheme because their risk was deemed insurable, received equivalent ad hoc aid. On the market side, France's largest crop insurer put its bill at more than 200 million euros, 90% of it on vines: double its first estimate, and twice its 2017 frost loss. For an underwriter, the event exposed the spatial correlation of frost. One air mass, thousands of farms hit in the same week. It also fed straight into the law of March 2, 2022, which replaced the calamities scheme with national solidarity compensation. Not to be confused with the April 2017 frost, which was more localized.