Days of decision

Fruit growers tremble before a clear night with a full moon

In the Inn Valley around Innsbruck, most fruit crops have been spared so far.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

It likes to clear up when the moon is full - Wednesday and Thursday will show whether this observation proves true again. If so, there will probably be frost in many regions of Tyrol and the fruit trees will be damaged. In some places, crop failures are already a certainty.

"So far, the effects of this unusually long cold spell have varied greatly from region to region," says fruit-growing expert Klemens Böck from the Chamber of Agriculture. In previous years, too, early blossoming was almost always followed by cooling. But rarely has this been so persistent.