People walk on the dried-out Danube riverbed near downtown Budapest on Thursday. | AFP-JIJI
Bloomberg
Aug 2, 2026
Europe’s biggest rivers, vital arteries for the region’s heavy industries, are drying up after the region was seared by a series of heat waves.
As water levels in the Rhine and Danube fall toward record lows, that’s starting to disrupt the transport of chemicals, oil products and other goods, while boosting freight costs. Soaring temperatures are also curbing power generation at riverside reactors from France to Hungary, pushing up energy prices and straining Eastern European economies.
Following the wildfires that ravaged France and Spain, it’s another sign of how climate change is taking its toll on the fastest-warming continent. The river disruptions are becoming a test of how quickly the region can adapt infrastructure built around 20th-century conditions to a climate where extreme low water is likely to be increasingly common.
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