Record-low water levels on the Danube and Rhine are disrupting shipping, energy production and tourism across central and eastern Europe, with Hungary and Romania for the first time in history shutting down atomic reactors normally cooled by the Danube. Extreme conditions aggravated by the climate emergency have left waterways from the Netherlands to the Black Sea parched, triggering compounding crises.
Paks output cut as Hungary braces for power crunch
Hungary’s 44-year-old Paks nuclear plant, which supplies nearly half of the country’s electricity, has been trimming output since Monday. Prime Minister Péter Magyar said the plant is running at less than 50% capacity and is expected to be completely powered down next week. The shutdown could last weeks because Danube water levels are expected to remain too low to restart it.
“An energy crisis situation could arise beginning Monday,” Magyar wrote on X. “Coordinated steps and restraint will be needed to avoid more severe consequences. We are counting on everyone!”
He added that a malfunction at Hungary’s largest gas-fired power plant in Százhalombatta was worsening the grid shortage. Authorities have asked citizens to reduce energy use in peak evening hours, including refraining from charging electric vehicles and switching off air conditioners, while carmakers and battery manufacturers have been ordered to cut power and water consumption.
In Romania, one reactor unit at the Cernavodă power plant was shut down earlier in the week for safety reasons, and a second is to be switched off soon after. Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said the shutdowns could last one to two weeks and urged Romanians to reduce power consumption in the evenings.
Danube uncovers bombs, shipwrecks and mammoth bones
The Danube, which flows through 10 countries, has receded to unprecedented lows in some stretches, exposing rocks, old shipwrecks, a second world war bomb and the remains of an ancient woolly mammoth. A resident of Ryahovo village in northern Bulgaria found the mammoth bones on the riverbed, and specialists from the Regional History Museum in Ruse arrived to investigate.
Last week, authorities in Budapest closed the Margaret Bridge after a wartime bomb was exposed at its base by falling water levels. The low river has forced cruise ships to dock upriver and sightseeing cruises to be cancelled, while cargo operations have ground to a near halt, according to Hungary’s ministry of transport and investment.
Shipping and livelihoods stranded from Serbia to Germany
From Slovakia and Hungary to Romania and Bulgaria, ships on the Danube have been unable to travel fully loaded and have faced lengthy waits. At the Vidin-Calafat Bridge linking Bulgaria and Romania, local people said they were out of work because low water had trapped their boats onshore.
“It’s never dried up this much before,” fisher Rossen Dobrev told Agence France-Presse. “Now we can even walk all the way to Romania.” In Romania, cattle can be seen on sand dunes exposed by the falling river near Calarasi.
In Serbia, hundreds of small boats and dozens of cargo ships are marooned on the dried-out riverbank near Novi Sad. Houseboat operator Radovan Segrt told the Associated Press the Danube had withdrawn about 15 to 20 metres from its shore. “The summer season is over now, as far as boat riding is concerned.”
In Germany, the Rhine fell to near-record lows on Friday after a heatwave and prolonged dry weather, according to the WSV navigation agency. Shallow water has forced cargo vessels to reduce loads to about 20% of normal capacity. The Rhine is a crucial shipping artery for grains, minerals, ores, coal and oil products including petrol, creating potential bottlenecks for the EU’s top economy.
Dutch officials said the Rhine had dropped to its lowest recorded level at the point where it flows into the Netherlands and was due to recede further. The Netherlands has had an officially recognised water shortage since mid-July, leading to use restrictions across most of the country, especially in farming.
The river is expected to keep ebbing in the coming days, with no significant rain in the forecast and temperatures expected to exceed 38C across the region.
