Key events

Record low water levels affect transport of goods, energy security

Record low water levels in Europe’s major rivers have curtailed the transport of goods, reduced electricity output and shrunk company earnings, stoking fears about the economic impact of searing heat and erratic rainfall, Reuters reported.

People walk on the exposed riverbed of the Danube River in Dunaszentbenedek, Hungary. Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock

From the ⁠bustling port of Rotterdam to hydropower ​plants in Serbia, waterways have become a less reliable way to transport goods such as grains and oil, or to produce much-needed electricity when millions are seeking to cool their homes.

“It’s affecting not one region like we’ve seen in the past, but the whole ⁠European landscape,” said Alessandro Armenia, a power analyst at commodities data and analytics firm Kpler.

“Given the current dynamics, it means either we’re going to see blackouts or we need to invest way more.”

At Djerdap 1, Serbia’s largest hydropower plant, output has fallen to 20% of capacity, the plant’s production ‌director Davor Maljoković told Reuters, as the once broad shipping channel beside it has shrunk to expose sandbanks and gravel bars.

The lack of water has also disrupted cooling systems at Serbia’s Kostolac coal-fired power plants, forcing them to cut output, Serbia’s state EPS power utility said.

Romania’s state nuclear power producer Nuclearelectrica also had to shut one of its two reactors earlier this week for the same reason, with the second expected to soon follow.

Two helicopters collide outside Athens as Greece battles to control wildfires

Two firefighting helicopters have collided west of Athens on Sunday, killing the two-person crew of one of the aircraft, as efforts to control a massive wildfire barrelling towards the outskirts of the Greek capital intensified.

A fireman runs to extinguish a fire in an olive grove in the settlement of Zachouli, Greece. Photograph: Louisa Gouliamaki/Reuters

Footage showed one of the helicopters losing control in the face of gale-force winds that have pushed flames towards settlements on Athens’ western fringes.

“The pilots … were taken unconscious to hospital, where their death was confirmed,” said the fire department’s director of communications, Vassilis Vathrakogiannis.

The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said the two dead were a Dane and a Greek. The two crew members of the second helicopter were rescued.

Morning opening: South-eastern Europe braces for heatwave, energy crunch

The latest heatwave seen in western Europe last week are now moving eastwards, with large parts of central and southern Europe set to experience extreme temperatures near 40C, and putting countries at risk of an energy crunch.

A municipal public space supervisor distributes bagged drinking water to pedestrians in a square during a heat wave in Budapest, Hungary. Photograph: Zsolt Szigetváry/EPA

Hungary was forced to shut down most of its sole nuclear power plant, which generates a large part of the country’s energy supply, for the first time in 44 years as the drying out of the Danube made it impossible to cool safely. The nuclear plant ‌is expected to ​be completely powered down later ⁠this week ​as water ​levels ​on ​the ‌Danube ​river are projected ​to fall further.

On Monday, many digital advertising screens will be turned off to save energy, as part of a broader push to seek savings wherever possible.

Hungarian prime minister Péter Magyar warned on Monday that “the hardest five days are ahead.”

A view of the Paks nuclear power plant near Dunaszentbenedek. Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock

Romania and Serbia also reported their lowest-ever water levels, causing issues with hydropower generation.

Budapest and Vienna will see temperatures of up to 37C today, with Zagreb at 36C, Tirana at 35C, and Bucharest at 33C, and these temperatures are expected to last for up to five days.

But that doesn’t mean it will be necessarily much cooler in the west, with 36C in Rome and 34C in Paris.

Elsewhere, I will keep an eye on the political fallout from the migration crisis in Ceuta last week, with EU ambassadors meeting this morning for what is likely to be a fierce discussion on what’s next ahead of tomorrow’s talks between interior ministers.

I will bring you all the updates from across Europe as the day progresses.

It’s Monday, 3 August 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.