A man walks on a sandbank near wreckage of a German WWII warship which was exposed due to drought impacts on the Danube River in Serbia, August 4, 2026. © Darko Vojinovic, AP
Water levels on the Danube River, the second longest in Europe, have dropped so low due to drought and extreme heat over the summer that the hulls of dozens of German warships from World War II are emerging into view and the remains of an ancient mammoth were uncovered in Romania. In Germany, fishing boats have been stuck near the banks of the Rhine, and sections of France's Loire riverbed are partially dry.
Scientists from Rousse's Regional Historical Museum examine the remains of an ancient mammoth as historically low water levels on the Danube River exposed parts of the riverbed near the village of Ryahovo, south of Bucharest, on July 30, 2026. © AFP
The Romanian Navy detonates underwater explosives during a controlled demolition of submerged rocks to improve water flow amid exceptionally low water levels on the Danube River, Izvoarele, Romania, August 3, 2026. © Andreea Alexandru, AP
Boats in a marina left stranded on dry ground by the low water level of the Danube River near Apatin, Serbia, on August 4, 2026. © Nenad Mihajlovic, AFP
A frog floats in a puddle in an area that is usually fully submerged along the Danube River in Rasova, Romania, August 3, 2026. © Andreea Alexandru, AP
A former eel fishing boat covered in dried mud is seen on low water near the banks of the river Rhine near Neuss, western Germany, on July 30, 2026. © Ina Fassbender, AFP
A plant sprout emerges from dried-out soil of the partially dry Loire riverbed in Chécy near Orléans in central France on July 22, 2026. © Alain Jocard, AFP
Visitors bathe and sit on the sand of the partially dry Loire riverbed in Orléans, central France on July 22, 2026. © Alain Jocard, AFP
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
