Heatwave Pushes Danube River to Record Low Levels Across Europe

Historic Heatwave Dries Up Danube, Disrupting Life Across Europe

Europe’s relentless heatwaves have pushed the Danube River to historically low levels, disrupting shipping, power generation, farming and tourism across countries that depend on the continent’s second-longest waterway.

In the Romanian town of Corabia, tourist boats sit stranded in algae-covered shallows as sandbars block access to the river. Residents say the transformation has been dramatic.

“Last year we could swim across, but now the water only comes up to our chests,” 71-year-old fisherman Doru told AFP, pointing to an island in the river. “In two years, we’ll probably be able to walk across.”

Flowing 2,850 kilometres from Germany’s Black Forest to the Black Sea, the Danube has been battered by months of unusually hot and dry weather. Water levels have fallen to record lows in Hungary and to their lowest in three decades in Romania and Slovakia.

• River Traffic Grinds to a Halt
• The shrinking river has severely disrupted navigation across Central and Eastern Europe.

Commercial cargo vessels are sailing with reduced loads or waiting for safer conditions, while ferry services between parts of Romania and Bulgaria have been temporarily suspended. In Bulgaria, a cruise ship carrying nearly 200 passengers had to be evacuated after running aground in shallow waters.

Romanian officials say some stretches of the river are now about one metre below the minimum level required for navigation. Authorities are carrying out dredging operations to keep a narrow shipping channel open, but warn the situation remains critical.

• Energy Production Takes a Hit
• The drought is also straining Europe’s energy infrastructure.

Hungary temporarily shut down its only nuclear power plant because the Danube no longer provides sufficient cooling water. Romania also halted both reactors at the Cernavoda nuclear plant—the first time both units have been taken offline simultaneously due to low river levels. Serbia has reduced output at its two largest hydroelectric stations as water availability continues to decline.

Scientists from the World Weather Attribution group said the drought has been intensified by human-induced climate change, making an already severe dry spell significantly more extreme.

Communities Face Growing Hardship

The falling water levels are affecting thousands of people who rely on the Danube for their livelihoods. Along the Bulgaria-Romania border, fishermen say their boats are stranded on dry ground, leaving them unable to work.

“I’ve been a fisherman for 39 years, and I’ve never seen a drought like this,” Bulgarian fisherman Aleksandar Angelov told AFP.

In Budapest, the Danube has fallen to its lowest level since records began, prompting water restrictions in several towns and forcing some river cruises to suspend operations. At Slovakia’s Gabcikovo dam, slower lock operations have increased delays for commercial shipping.

• Little Relief Expected
• Forecasts suggest the heat will persist, offering little immediate relief.

In Corabia, 65-year-old pensioner Mitica Nicolae said fish catches have declined sharply, while farmers are increasingly worried about irrigation and crop losses. Across the region, the receding river has exposed wide stretches of riverbed that were underwater only months ago.

With Europe’s heatwave showing few signs of easing, authorities warn that the Danube’s shrinking waters could continue to disrupt transport, energy supplies and local economies in the weeks ahead.