2026 has seen continued extreme weather conditions and temperatures in amongst a changing climate, and it is important to understand the effect that this has on our soils. We wanted to highlight some of the research in the area from the BSSS journals, the European Journal of Soil Science and Soil Use and Management.
Following on from the severe droughts in spring and summer 2025, the UK has experienced three heatwaves in 2026, with a long-term warming trend that has accelerated over recent decades. Britain is entering an era where extreme weather is becoming increasingly common, according to the State of the UK Climate report, after official data confirmed that 2025 was the hottest year ever recorded. These heatwaves and dry conditions continue to impact the agriculture sector. All regions in the UK have drier than average soils with river flows and groundwater levels continuing to decline.
Despite the changing climate and the pressure this puts on agriculture, we wanted to explore the effect of drought on soils and how soils react to this change of climate.
Soil is a living system that regulates water. When drought occurs, soils react by adjusting their regulatory systems and traces of this adjustment can linger long after the rain returns.
Healthy soil can be described as a sponge due to absorbing, storing, and releasing rainfall. Drought can change this. Recent research shows that soil water retention can shift depending on how that land has been managed. Agriculture practices, vegetation cover, and soil structure all influence soil’s ability to endure drought periods. In some cases, soil can gradually lose their buffering capacity – making future droughts more impactful. It has been observed across natural and semi-natural habitats in Europe where soils have been unable to soak up any water, which can intensify drought impacts by preventing rehydration when rain finally arrives.
Within soils there is an incredible amount of microscopic life – bacteria and fungi that drive nutrient cycling and support plant growth. These microbes are highly sensitive to water availability. Studies highlighted that water availability is a stronger driver for microbial activity than plant species themselves. When drought occurs, microbial processes slow down, but they don’t stop. Some will adapt, others go dormant, and some show resilience. Still, these shifts can alter nitrogen and carbon move through the soil.
When rain returns after a drought period sudden bursts of nitrogen oxide get released. These can be referred to as ‘hot moments’, though this isn’t caused by obvious changes in nutrients, but rather the rapid shifts in soil conditions as microbes ‘wake up’ and resume activity. (Barrat et al., 2021; Barrat et al., 2022).
Long-term experiments show that ecosystems can retain nitrogen even under combined stresses like drought and warming (Andresen et al., 2023). Meanwhile, past conditions can leave a log lasting effect which shapes how soil responds to future drought. (Adekanmbi et al., 2025).
The arrangement of particles plays a central role in how drought unfolds. New modelling approaches shows how soil structure, water movement, and organic matter cycling ar linked (Jarvis et al., 2024). Well structured soils are better at resisting drought because they have improved water infiltration and retention, unlike poor structured soils that are prone to rapid drying and run-off.
As David Tompkins highlights in a previous article on The Role of Soils in Enhancing Resilience to Drought – “Healthy soils also play a vital role in enhancing resilience to drought by retaining moisture and supporting plant growth.”
Drought can be expected to happen more frequently in many regions. Drought isn’t just a temporary loss of water; it’s a stress test for the entire soil system. How that system responds will play a major role in food security, ecosystem health, and climate change.
References
- Barrat, H. A., et al. (2021). The impact of drought and rewetting on N₂O emissions from soil in temperate and Mediterranean climates. European Journal of Soil Science, 72, 2504–2516.
- Barrat, H. A., et al. (2022). N₂O hot moments were not driven by changes in nitrogen and carbon substrates or functional genes. European Journal of Soil Science, 73, e13190.
- Maxwell, T. L., et al. (2023). Water availability is a stronger driver of soil microbial processing of organic nitrogen than tree species composition. European Journal of Soil Science, 74(1), e13350.
- Andresen, L. C., et al. (2023). Moderate nitrogen retention in a temperate heath ecosystem after elevated CO₂, drought and warming through seven years. European Journal of Soil Science, 74(4), e13397.
- Bañeras, L., et al. (2022). Resilience of microbial communities in Mediterranean soil after induced drought and manipulated UV radiation. European Journal of Soil Science, 73, e13218.
- Pirlot, C., et al. (2024). How does soil water retention change over time? European Journal of Soil Science, 75(4), e13558.
- Adil, M., et al. (2024). Long-term effects of management practices on soil water, yield and water use of dryland wheat: A global meta-analysis. European Journal of Soil Science, 75, e13541.
- Jarvis, N., et al. (2024). Interactions between soil structure dynamics, hydrological processes and organic matter cycling: A new soil–crop model. European Journal of Soil Science, 75(2), e13455.
- Adekanmbi, A. A., et al. (2025). Legacy effect of warming and cover crops on the response of soil carbon and nitrogen cycling to subsequent drought. European Journal of Soil Science, 76, e70044.
- Danielsen, A. C. S., et al. (2025). Soil water repellency in natural and semi-natural habitats across Europe. European Journal of Soil Science, 76(2), e70063.
Additional supporting articles from Soil Use and Management (DOIs provided):
