CLIME - Regional coherence and the frequency of extreme events

European lakes within the same geographic region often react in a similar way to climatic forcing. This regional coherence can be observed at both long (interannual and decennial) and short (intra-annual) time scales. The coherence in lake response indicates the possibility of up-scaling the climatic responses of individual lakes to entire regions. The regional coherence approach is used to analyse a number of water quality issues covered by the Water Framework Directive. In addition, the impact of extreme climatic events on some selected lakes within each region is being investigated using a combination of contemporary and historical data.