About half of Europe’s land area is experiencing drought, and 9 percent has reached the alert level, according to the Global Drought Observatory’s mid-July Combined Drought Indicator. Southern England, northern Italy and parts of Central Europe are among the hardest-hit areas.
The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre said the Loire, Po, Rhine and Danube rivers reached record-low levels after continued hotter and drier conditions. Satellite imagery also shows retreating water, reduced soil moisture and yellowing vegetation in several European cities.
Where river levels are under pressure
In France, imagery of the Loire near Saumur shows wider islands and exposed sandy and gravelly areas in an August 8, 2026, image than in comparable images from 2023. Nearby agricultural land also appears brown and pale. The Garonne basin near Moissac showed a similar shift from greener fields in May to browner vegetation on August 1.
The Po near Boretto in Italy showed more exposed areas in August 2026 than in a 2023 comparison. The Joint Research Centre said the Po basin was under severe hydrological stress, affecting pressure on water use for irrigation and energy production.
Related coverage: England Declared in Drought as July Becomes One of the Driest Months on Record.
In Germany, imagery near Kaub showed expanding exposed areas in the Rhine channel between May 1 and July 29. Low water levels disrupted shipping, with vessels using lighter loads and traffic halted at a bottleneck after some vessels became stranded, according to the source material.
Central Europe and the Danube
The alert-level drought area includes southern Germany, Hungary, Romania, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Joint Research Centre said reduced Danube flows in Hungary and Romania were putting pressure on navigation, water supplies, agricultural activity and the energy sector.
Satellite imagery recorded a noticeable decline in water levels along parts of the Danube between August 9, 2025, and August 9, 2026. In the Garonne basin, the river management authority began an early operation in early July to support river levels after flows near Toulouse approached record lows for that time of year; it described the intervention as the earliest since the system began in 1993.
More context: European Heat and Drought Put Olive Oil and Food Crops at Risk.
Drought is visible in cities and parks
England received 6.5mm of rain in July—10 percent of its long-term average and its driest July since records began in 1836. The Environment Agency said on Tuesday that 71.3 percent of England was officially in drought, including all of Greater London, while reservoir storage had fallen to 69 percent.
Images of Hyde Park and the area around Stonehenge show declining vegetation vitality. In Vienna, a comparison of Auer-Welsbach Park from July 22, 2025, to July 28, 2026, shows dark-green grass giving way to extensive yellowing and brown, pale open areas.
European monitoring centres expect dry conditions to continue through September. The reported satellite changes are consistent with water and heat stress affecting farmland, river channels and public green spaces across Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Austria and parts of Central Europe.
Also read: French Volunteers Save Trout and Salmon as Rivers Dry Up in Record Heat.
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