Europe's four largest rivers hit record lows as drought and heatwaves deepen, heat death toll disputed between WHO and Bloomberg
Europe's four largest rivers, the Rhine, Danube, Po and Loire, hit record low levels in August as drought and heatwaves grip the continent, per Copernicus. The WHO counted over 10,000 heat-linked excess deaths in five countries; Bloomberg's tally puts the toll at 25,000.
Copernicus, the EU's Earth observation programme, reports that four of Europe's largest rivers, the Rhine, Danube, Po and Loire, have fallen to record low levels in August as a drought that began in spring continues to deepen. The Copernicus European Drought Observatory found that half of the EU and UK were under some level of drought as of late July, with 9 percent of that territory at the most severe alert stage. Wildfires have burned 505,683 hectares across the EU since the start of the year, already ahead of 2025's pace, which was the worst wildfire season on record. Reduced river flows have also cut hydropower and nuclear output in France, and disrupted Danube shipping in Hungary and Romania. On mortality, the figures diverge sharply depending on the source. The World Health Organisation reported over 10,000 excess deaths linked to the heat across five countries. A separate compilation by Bloomberg put the toll at 25,000. That gap is itself notable: heat deaths are undercounted in much of Europe because many countries lack real-time excess mortality tracking, so the true toll likely sits somewhere between the two figures, or beyond them.