After 2000, Montenegro has been hit by several severe droughts. The results presented in this study were based on the analysis of the standardized precipitation index (SPI) and the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) for the period 1961–2020. They showed the prevalence of a negative trend in both indices and a significantly higher frequency of drought in the second half of the observed period (1991–2020). The SPEI index is a more representative indicator of drought, because in addition to precipitation, it also takes into account potential evapotranspiration. Using the rescaled adjusted partial sums (RAPS) method, it was determined that the tipping point when the SPEI suddenly fell was the mid-1980s. Out of the 15 analyzed teleconnection variation indicators (atmospheric and oceanic oscillations), 11 oscillations have a significant impact on one or more of the 24 analyzed SPEI time series. The consequences of the drought in Montenegro, as part of the Mediterranean, are most noticeable in the summer, primarily in the form of water shortages, dried vegetation, and frequent fires. Decision-makers in Montenegro should pay attention to this extreme, as drought could pose a serious problem under the projected warmer climate conditions.

Lake Skadar on the Balkan Peninsula faces many ecological challenges. The lake is located in the border area between Mon-tenegro and Albania and its ecosystem interacts with important and highly populated urban centres such as Podgorica and Bar. Despite the crucial role the lake plays in the sustainability of the ecosystem and the health of the population, there is a lack of environmental quality assessment and data-based analysis. Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess both the wa-ter quality of Lake Skadar and the air pollution in Podgorica and Bar in the period from 2011 to 2018. To assess water qual-ity, the Water Quality Index (WQI) model, i.e. the SWQI method, was used, which was calculated based on 10 parameters of physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of water from 9 hydrological stations (oxygen saturation, biochemical oxygen consumption for 5 days, ammonium ions, pH, total nitrogen oxides, orthophosphates, suspended solids, tempera-ture, electrical conductivity and coliform bacteria). In addition, air quality in the two cities was assessed using timeseries of PM10 concentrations. The results showed that the water quality of Lake Skadar was of good to high quality (WQI 79-95), while the air quality in Podgorica and Bar was a serious public health problem, especially in the cold seasons in Podgorica (i.e. the average seasonal and daily PM10 concentrations were often > 40 and > 50 µg/m3). These results are of great practi-cal importance for environmental management and support decision makers in applying certain environmental protection measures and strategies.

Recently Montenegro has often been faced with extreme weather events. The aim of this paper is to provide a detailed synoptic analysis of a severe weather event, a waterspout, and to confirm an indication that in most cases such events could potentially be forecasted, which is of great practical significance, since human lives and property can be saved. The paper presents the research results of synoptic and mesoscale weather conditions which created a favourable meteorological environment for a waterspout development in Tivat (Montenegrin coast) on June 9, 2018, around 01 UTC (03 CET). Based on field survey analysis, the rating of tornado intensity by the Fujita scale (F-scale) has been done by assessing the damage. The synoptic type for this situation was CLOSED-SW and was determined by a detailed examination of atmospheric circulation. The results presented in the manuscript can help decision makers in Montenegro to take certain adaptation measures (above all, in tourism and construction) in order to mitig te the negative consequences of weather extremes.

In Finland, in the period 1996-2017, 28,434 forest fires were recorded (an average of 1,292.5 per year), and the total burned area was 11,922 ha (an average of 541.9 ha per year). In both cases, a statistically nonsignificant downward trend was recorded. Forest fires in Finland do not represent a particularly significant problem, primarily due to climatic characteristics, well-organized fire protection, and low density of population. The research of climate influence included the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and the Arctic Oscillation (AO). The statistically significant values (p ≤ .05) of Pearson correlation coefficient were recorded for the August values of NAO and the surface area of burned forest (−0.44), the June values of NAO and the average surface area of forest burned per fire (−0.51) and the May AO values and the average surface area of forest burned per fire (−0.45). For the June values of NAO and the average surface area of forest burned per fire, the Lomb periodogram shows four significant peaks, and the match is at two, at 2.4 and 3.4 years, which supports the hypothesis of the connection between NAO and forest fires in Finland. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 47007 III]