Brief communication: Atmospheric moisture and near-surface temperature anomalies: key drivers in the 2022 European mega-drought

Using an integrated Lagrangian moisture and temperature diagnostic framework, we reveal previously undocumented dynamics driving the 2022 European mega-drought across three phases (before, during, and after its peak). We quantify a marked decoupling: despite enhanced regional moisture uptake, precipitation contributions from Atlantic and Mediterranean sources were severely suppressed. Source-based regionalization (North-Western vs. South-Eastern Europe) highlights distinct trajectories driven by persistent anticyclonic anomalies and widespread subsidence, which suppressed convection while inducing adiabatic warming as the primary heat driver. The abrupt drought termination demonstrates that future European drought severity depends on large-scale atmospheric dynamics controlling rainfall triggering rather than moisture availability alone.