Europe is suffocating. According to the Copernicus observatory, the western part of the Old Continent has experienced its hottest early summer on record, with June and July reaching record levels, against a backdrop of repeated heatwaves, widespread drought and wildfires, fuelled by global warming. “We have never experienced such weather in our lifetime, and perhaps not even since the dawn of our civilisation,” warned Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). But beyond the record temperatures, the water shortage is already having very tangible effects. From agriculture to energy, via river flows and wildfires, drought is disrupting daily life in several European countries.
On the Danube, the drought is disrupting transport. Countries along this 2,850 km river are feeling the effects of falling water levels. In Slovakia and Bulgaria, merchant vessels are being forced to reduce their cargo and navigation has slowed to a crawl. In Bulgaria, services to Romania have even been temporarily suspended at two points, whilst 186 passengers on a cruise ship had to be evacuated by the emergency services on 4 August after their vessel ran aground in the north-west of the country. As for cargo ships, “they are forced to wait or sail with a reduced load”, explains a spokesperson for the Bulgarian government agency responsible for the Danube.
Near the Calafat-Vidin bridge, on the border between Bulgaria and Romania, fishing boats are stranded on the riverbank. In Hungary, the Danube has reached its lowest ever recorded level in Budapest. Dozens of Hungarian towns and villages were subject to water restrictions during the June heatwave. Some river cruises were suspended in the country in July. Further upstream still, at the Gabcikovo dam in Slovakia, passage through the locks has been slowed down, leading to longer waiting times, and captains have been advised to check the seaworthiness of their vessels.
The falling water level of the Danube is threatening the operation of nuclear power stations. In Romania, the state-owned company Nuclearelectrica announced on Thursday 13 August that it had begun procedures to shut down the second reactor at the Cernavoda power station, in the east of the country, due to “the falling water level of the Danube”. This nuclear power station, Romania’s only one, had already shut down one of its two reactors at the end of July due to a lack of sufficient water resources to aid its cooling. Whilst it usually accounts for a fifth of the country’s total electricity production, this complete shutdown is the first of its kind since the heatwave of 2003.
Hungary has so far managed to avoid a complete shutdown of its Paks nuclear power station, whose reactors are also cooled by water from the Danube. However, with water levels set to fall further, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced on Wednesday 12 August that the government had ordered the construction of a submerged weir near the power station. Two 80-metre barges are also being positioned and can be sunk to raise the water level.
The drought is also taking its toll on Switzerland’s forests. Despite appearing healthy, many trees in the Swiss Plateau and the Jura Arc regions have been weakened by persistent drought, according to the daily newspaper 24 Heures. And with good reason: according to an AFP analysis published on 10 August, 99 per cent of the country was affected by drought in July. Tree branches or tops can snap at any moment, sometimes without even a gust of wind, warns Suva, a Swiss insurer. According to the Swissinfo.ch website, more than 194 municipalities have also introduced restrictions on water use, such as watering gardens, washing cars or filling swimming pools.
The drought is also affecting fuel supplies, a quarter of which are transported via the Rhine. According to RTS, the river’s water level was no higher than 29 cm, forcing cargo ships to sail half-empty. Some were even stranded. In the port of Basel, imports of oil, as well as cereals and fertilisers, have been affected, leading to a rise in prices. At the pump, the price per litre has risen by 16 Swiss centimes, or around 17 euro cents.
In Germany, the water level of the Rhine is also disrupting the transport of goods, according to Reuters. Several industrial firms, particularly in the chemical and steel sectors, are having to reorganise their supply chains by prioritising rail or road transport. In response to this crisis, Berlin has decided to temporarily suspend the ban on heavy goods vehicles on Sundays and public holidays, in order to help ease congestion in freight transport.
Across the Channel, the British government announced on Monday 10 August that 71.3 per cent of England was affected by drought, compared with around 50 per cent of the country at the end of July, according to Reuters. Some 27 million people are currently subject to water restrictions.
This drought is also threatening British crops. According to The Guardian, low rainfall and high temperatures have led to a fall in yields and forced some farmers to harvest earlier than planned – something not seen for 20 years. If the drought persists, shortages could affect certain food products, according to the main farmers’ union. “We have taken our food supply for granted for far too long,” its president warned on the BBC.
This fall in production has raised concerns about direct impacts on farms’ finances and their ability to invest in adapting to global warming, for example by trialling more resilient crop varieties. When asked about the issue on 7 August, the Prime Minister’s spokesperson, Andy Burnham, stated that “food security is a matter of national security”.
Crops in the Netherlands are also being affected by the drought. Dutch farmers are seeing their yields fall, particularly for potatoes, of which the country is one of the world’s leading producers, reports the Associated Press. The lack of water is also making it difficult to irrigate crops, whilst farmers are facing restrictions to conserve water resources.
Czech brewers, for their part, are concerned about a poor hop harvest. The country’s largest beer producer, Plzensky Prazdroj, laments that the drought is causing inconsistent yields. “There is no choice but to accept that one year will be excellent and the next a poor one,” Jakub Zaoral, the brewery’s sustainability manager, told the Associated Press.
An article written by Corentin Alloune (franceinfo), initially published on 14 August 2026, 06:07 (CEST)