A prolonged drought and heatwave across Europe have driven the Danube River to record-low levels, exposing dozens of deliberately scuttled Nazi German warships near the Serbian port of Prahovo and the bones of a woolly mammoth in Bulgaria, while disrupting river cruises and reducing output at Hungary's Paks nuclear plant. The European Drought Observatory has reported “above-average temperatures with an extensive and prolonged heatwave” in the first half of July, with drought conditions persisting across much of central and western Europe, according to Fox News.

Historians cited by CBS News and Emirates 24/7 say up to 200 German warships were scuttled in September 1944 near Prahovo in the Danube gorge as the Nazi Black Sea fleet retreated under Soviet fire, aiming to slow the Soviet advance in the Balkans. At least 20 wrecks are now visible from the riverbanks, some still laden with explosives. In Bulgaria, Nikolay Nenov, director of the Regional Historical Museum, told AFP that falling water levels near the city of Ruse revealed bone fragments “very likely” from a young woolly mammoth, including a jawbone, tusk fragments, a shoulder blade and a femur, all well-preserved and concentrated in one location.

The low water levels have also disrupted river cruises on the Danube and Rhine. Fox News reported that operators including Avalon Waterways and AmaWaterways warned of itinerary changes, with passengers being bused to other ships. One Reddit user described a five-hour bus transfer to a new vessel after parts of the Rhine became impassable, missing prepaid excursions. Another user expressed disappointment that the “castle” section of the Rhine was too shallow to traverse.

Hungary's Paks Nuclear Power Plant reported on July 27 that the Danube's water level at Paks reached minus 42 inches, breaking all previous records, according to Fox News. CBS News and Emirates 24/7 noted that record-low water levels have forced power plants to the brink of shutdown, with governments across Central and Eastern Europe taking steps to conserve electricity. The Serbian government, with European Union financial support, has been working to remove the most hazardous wrecks; a project backed by the European Investment Bank granted €16 million in July 2024 to extract 21 selected vessels near Prahovo, with completion expected by 2028, according to El Cronista.