Articles | Volume 30, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-2667-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-2667-2026
Research article
 | 
08 May 2026
Research article |  | 08 May 2026

Sensitivities of mean and extreme streamflow to climate variability across Europe

Anna Luisa Hemshorn de Sánchez, Wouter R. Berghuijs, Anne F. Van Loon, Dimmie Hendriks, and Ype van der Velde

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Cited articles

Anderson, B. J., Brunner, M. I., Slater, L. J., and Dadson, S. J.: Elasticity curves describe streamflow sensitivity to precipitation across the entire flow distribution, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 1567–1583, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1567-2024, 2024. 
Andréassian, V., Coron, L., Lerat, J., and Le Moine, N.: Climate elasticity of streamflow revisited – an elasticity index based on long-term hydrometeorological records, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 4503–4524, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-4503-2016, 2016. 
Athanase, M., Sánchez-Benítez, A., Monfort, E., Jung, T., and Goessling, H. F.: How climate change intensified storm Boris' extreme rainfall, revealed by near-real-time storylines, Commun. Earth Environ., 5, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01847-0, 2024. 
Awasthi, C., Vogel, R. M., and Sankarasubramanian, A.: Regionalization of Climate Elasticity Preserves Dooge's Complementary Relationship, Water Resour. Res., 60, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR036606, 2024. 
Bai, X., Liu, W., Wang, T., Feng, Y., Wang, H., Lan, Z., Guo, S., and Sun, F.: Large-sample detection of reservoir impacts on flow regime alteration through improved paired-catchment approach, J. Hydrol.-Amst., 642, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.131872, 2024. 
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Short summary
This study explores how mean and extreme river flows respond to annual climate variability. Maps show where river flow is more sensitive to climate in Europe. Maximum flows are generally the most sensitive and minimum flows the least sensitive to precipitation changes. Sensitivities are influenced by many factors like climate, soil, and terrain. These findings improve our understanding of how rivers respond to climate and can support water management and disaster risk reduction across Europe.
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