- Hungary's only nuclear power plant, Paks, will shut down for the first time due to record low Danube water levels, causing a potential critical energy supply crisis.
- A heatwave with temperatures around 37°C for a week exacerbates the energy situation; PM Magyar asks for reduced energy use between 17:00 and 22:00.
- Romania also shut down one of its two nuclear reactors at Cernavoda due to low Danube levels, risking temporary loss of all nuclear energy.
- Climate change is warming Europe twice as fast as the global average, leading to more heatwaves, water stress, and wildfires.
- Low Danube waters have revealed sunken ships and mammoth bones; shipping halted and cruise passengers stranded in Bulgaria.
- Serbia's Sava and Tisa rivers also at low levels, not expected to improve until mid-September; temperatures could reach 40°C.
- France and Spain have experienced severe wildfires this summer, with hundreds of thousands evacuated.