In this study, aridity data and tree ring data were collected in Northern Serbia, in Southeast (SE) Banat, a subregion within Vojvodina, and Vojvodina at large. They were each investigated independently. The De Martonne Aridity Index and the Forestry Aridity Index are derived from examining the relationship between precipitation and surface air temperature data sets sourced from seven meteorological stations in SE Banat, and from 10 meteorological stations located in Vojvodina as a whole. Vojvodina is a large territory and used as the control area, for the period 1949–2017. The Palmer Drought Severity Index was derived for the period 1927–2016, for both SE Banat and the totality of Vojvodina. The results of the Tree Ring Width Index were obtained from samples collected in or around the villages of Vlajkovac and Šušara, both located in SE Banat, for the period 1927–2017. These tree ring records were compared with three previous aridity and drought indices, and the meteorological data on the surface air temperature and the precipitation, with the objective being to evaluate the response of tree growth to climate dynamics in the SE Banat subregion. It was noted that the significant positive temperature trends recorded in both areas were too insufficient to trigger any trends in aridity or the Tree Ring Width Index, as neither displayed any change. Instead, it appears that these climatic parameters only changed in response to the precipitation trend, which remained unchanged during the investigated period, rather than in response to the temperature trend. It appears that the forest vegetation in the investigated areas was not affected significantly by climate change in response to the dominant temperature increase.

For the investigation of geographical, monthly, seasonal, and annual distributions of aridity and its annual trend in the region of the Central and Southern Pannonian Basin (CSPB), which includes the territories of Hungary and Vojvodina (Northern Serbia), the De Martonne Aridity Index (DMAI) was used. The DMAI was originally calculated from a total of 78 meteorological stations with the maximum available time series of climatological data in three cases: 1931–2017 for Hungary; 1949–2017 for Vojvodina; and 1949–2017 for Hungary and Vojvodina jointly. The Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) was used to control the DMAI results. Temperature and precipitation trends were also investigated to understand their effects on the aridity trend. Three aridity types are distinguished on the annual level, five on the seasonal level, and four on the monthly level. The annual aridity had no trends in all three periods. It seems that aridity can be considered a more stable climate indicator of climate change than the temperature, at least in the CSPB.

We investigate the glacial climate conditions in the southeastern Carpathian Basin (Vojvodina, Serbia) based on the reconstruction of malacological palaeotemperatures and results from a high‐resolution regional climate simulation. Land snail assemblages from eight loess profiles are used to reconstruct July temperatures during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The malacological reconstructed temperatures are in good agreement with the simulated LGM July temperatures by the Weather Research and Forecast model. Both methods indicate increasing temperatures from the northwestern towards the southeastern parts of the study area. LGM aridity indices calculated based on the regional climate model data suggest more arid conditions in the southeastern parts compared with more humid conditions in the northwestern parts. However, for present‐day conditions, the moisture gradient is reversed, exhibiting more humid (arid) conditions in the southeast (northwest). An explanation for the reversed LGM aridity pattern is provided by an analysis of the prevailing wind directions over the South Banat district (Serbia). The prevailing moist northwesterly winds during summer are not able to compensate for the annual lack of moisture induced by the dry winds from the southeast that are more frequent during the LGM for the other seasons.