Hungary came “within millimetres” of being forced to shut down its Paks nuclear power plant overnight as low water levels in the Danube continued to strain energy systems across south-eastern Europe. Prime minister Péter Magyar said the plant’s last turbine was operating safely after water levels stopped falling and began to rise again by Tuesday morning.
“Around 1:30 a.m. we were a few millimetres away from completely shutting down the Paks Power Plant, but then the water level stopped falling and by morning it had risen 1.5 centimetres. The last turbine is currently operating safely,” Magyar said on social media.
The plant is already running at a reduced capacity of just over 10% after the Danube fell to a record low, making proper cooling impossible. Hungary’s energy minister István Kapitány said on Tuesday that a series of energy-saving measures had reduced consumption enough to keep the grid secure.
Businesses have also altered their operations to cut energy use during the hottest hours. Lidl, the grocery chain, changed its baking shifts and turned off its drink fridges despite temperatures forecast to approach 40C. Electric car chargers in its car parks can only be used until 5pm.
Elsewhere in the region, Romania marked a 2-centimetre rise in water levels after a controlled explosion intended to divert the flow of the Danube and help cool its Cernavodă nuclear plant. The plant manager told local media that the extra water should help keep the plant running over the next few days, but further interventions are planned for Tuesday, including sinking old barges to divert more of the river’s flow.
Temperatures are expected to rise above 40C in large parts of Romania again on Tuesday.
In Brussels, the European Commission said it was “monitoring very closely” the situation in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania as the region faces an energy crunch caused by the ongoing heatwave and drought. Energy spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said the low Danube levels “will clearly have an impact on nuclear generation along the route,” adding that this concerns several member states.
The commission said it was ready to “convene an electricity coordination group as soon as there is a need for that.” Itkonen said climate risks and extreme weather events had already been built into many energy and transport policies, and would be included in future work as well.
We are expecting to hear from the EU’s migration commissioner, Magnus Brunner, in the next hour as he briefs journalists on today’s meeting of the bloc’s interior ministers on Ceuta.
I will bring it live for you here when he shows up.
How is Hungary responding to the energy crunch?
Magyar later praised Hungarians for their solidarity after what he called the country’s “most difficult and critical night” during the heatwave-driven energy crunch. In a video on Facebook, he repeated that the Paks plant had been only “millimetres away” from shutdown overnight, but said the water level had started rising again by morning.
“Tonight’s turn of events gives us cause for optimism, but the hardest days are still ahead of us,”
He thanked people who reduced consumption and those working to stabilise the energy grid under difficult conditions.
“Scorching heat of over 40C, drought, and further hardships await, but light now can be seen at the end of the tunnel as cooler weather arrives from Friday, and hopefully much-needed rain in the upper areas of the Danube,”
Magyar said temperatures in Budapest were expected to get close to 40C later on Tuesday.
What is happening at Romania’s Cernavodă plant?
Romania’s government celebrated the rise in water levels after the controlled explosion aimed at diverting Danube water to cool the Cernavodă nuclear plant. The plant manager said the adjustment should help maintain operations for the next few days, but further steps are planned, including sinking old barges to redirect the river.
The region is still facing intense heat, with temperatures set to surpass 40C in large parts of Romania again on Tuesday.
What did the EU say about the wider energy situation?
The European Commission said it was monitoring the situation closely in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania as the drought and heatwave continue to disrupt energy supply and generation. It said the low Danube levels will affect nuclear generation along the river and that the situation concerns several member states.
The commission added that it was ready to convene an electricity coordination group if needed. It also said extreme weather and climate risks are already incorporated into many energy and transport policies and will be considered in future work.
What else is on the EU’s agenda today?
EU interior ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss the bloc’s response to last week’s migration crisis in Ceuta, where a mass crossing from Morocco triggered political tensions across Europe. EU migration commissioner Magnus Brunner is due to brief journalists in the early afternoon.
The meeting comes after a weekend of criticism and debate over how the EU should respond to the crisis and what steps are needed to secure the bloc’s external borders.
What did Morocco say about the Ceuta court ruling?
Back on the Ceuta issue, a senior Moroccan official claimed that Morocco warned Spain a recent Spanish court ruling would create “a problem.” Spain’s Supreme Court ruled on 8 July that migrants arriving by sea should not be returned as quickly as others, and Madrid has blamed criminal gangs for spreading misinformation about the ruling.
“We started engaging with the Spanish side around 22-23 July, when the networks began talking about this,”
the Moroccan official said on Monday night, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“We discussed this ruling and its impact. We explained that this ruling was going to create a problem. And it did create a problem,”
he said.
The official rejected any suggestion that Morocco was to blame for the crisis.
“At a certain point, the Moroccan law enforcement forces could no longer confront the migrants because the numbers were very large,”
he said, adding that
“the pull effect was very strong,”
and that
“Today, it is up to Spain to find answers to the challenges posed by this ruling,”
Spain has since responded by installing new border containment structures that it says will let it invoke an exemption in the court ruling and send migrants back across the border.
Why are Hungarian and Romanian plants under pressure?
The pressure on Hungary’s Paks plant and Romania’s Cernavodă plant stems from the ongoing heatwave and drought, which have driven the Danube to exceptionally low levels. Hungary’s plant has already been operating at just over 10% capacity because it cannot be cooled properly, while Romania has had to take steps to divert more river water toward its reactor.
The European Commission’s warning reflects concern that the river’s low levels are affecting nuclear generation along its route in multiple countries.
OUR OWN EARLIER COVERAGE (background material — this is what the source does NOT have):
1. Danube low levels force shutdown of Hungary's only nuclear plant (published 2026-07-30, url: /earth/weather-science/danube-low-levels-force-shutdown-of-hungarys-only-nuclear-plant)
Hungary's only nuclear plant is set to shut down as record-low Danube levels prevent cooling, while Romania also faces reactor disruption amid a widespread European heatwave.
2. South-eastern Europe faces heatwave energy crunch as Romania blasts Danube rock (published 2026-08-03, url: /news/europe/south-eastern-europe-faces-heatwave-energy-crunch-as-romania-blasts-danube-rock)
Romania detonated a rock in the Danube to boost water flow to the Cernavodă nuclear plant as heat, drought and wildfires strain energy systems across south-eastern Europe.
3. Warm Rivers Impact French Nuclear Plants Amid Heat and Drought (published 2026-07-13, url: /news/europe/warm-rivers-impact-french-nuclear-plants-amid-heat-and-drought)
Unusually warm rivers in France, caused by high temperatures and low rainfall, are impacting nuclear power plants. Meanwhile, wildfires rage in Spain and Typhoon Bavi threatens flooding in China amid persistent heat across Europe and Asia.
Ceuta leader accuses Morocco over ‘atrocity’ of mass border crossing
Ashifa Kassam in Madrid, Okba Mohammad in Ceuta and Lisa O’Carroll in London
A growing chorus of voices has accused Morocco of helping to fuel the crisis in Ceuta, with the leader of the Spanish enclave describing last week’s border crossings as an attack on Spain’s territorial integrity that was seen as being “if not orchestrated, at least encouraged or permitted by Morocco”.
Spanish officials said on Monday that an estimated 69,500 people who had arrived late last week in Ceuta, a tiny Spanish territory in north Africa, had returned to Morocco in recent days. About 2,500 people who had made the crossing were believed to still be in Ceuta.
The extraordinary influx had overwhelmed the city of 84,000 people and set off criticism across the EU as some member states laid blame on Spain.
In Ceuta, leaders pointed to the broader picture of what had transpired.
“It’s an atrocity,”
said Juan Jesús Vivas, the long-serving conservative leader of the territory.
“There are 88 bodies in the morgue, and there are more on the other side of the border.”
He said local people watched the events play out with a mix of sadness, worry and anguish.
“People see this not as a migration crisis; it was fundamentally an attack, a violation of Spain’s territorial integrity,”
Vivas told El País newspaper.
“People felt that this, if not orchestrated, was at least encouraged or permitted by Morocco.”
He drew a parallel with May 2021, when Rabat loosened border controls and around 10,000 people crossed over the course of two days during a diplomatic standoff over Madrid’s decision to allow a Western Sahara independence leader to be treated for Covid-19 in Spain.
This time around, analysts have suggested that Spain’s recent rapprochement with Rabat’s arch-enemy Algeria could have triggered a response from Morocco.
And if you want to catch up on the latest from Ceuta, here it is:
How are EU ministers responding to the Ceuta migration crisis?
Over in Brussels, after a weekend of backbiting over the response to the mass border crossings in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, EU ministers will seek to present a more unified front and signal tougher security at Europe’s frontiers.
EU home affairs ministers are meeting at 10.30 CET via video conference to assess the bloc’s response to the arrival and quick departure of tens of thousands of people at the Spanish territory in north Africa. Around 100 people are estimated to have died on both sides of the Spanish-Moroccan border.
Ministers are not expected to take decisions, but EU sources think they will give a broad endorsement to the, intended to ensure stronger border protection “at critical points” of the EU’s external border.
Von der Leyen wants to double down on five areas: strengthening cooperation with non-EU countries to prevent migration; stronger external borders; implementing early warning systems; dismantling smuggling networks; and boosting returns of people with no right to stay.
At a meeting of senior EU diplomats on Monday, several countries stressed the importance of preventing sudden movements of people, calling for greater use of intelligence and monitoring of disinformation and misinformation.
While Madrid’s envoy voiced his government’s frustration with the response from some member states, others rejected suggestions that they had failed to show solidarity over the sudden influx of arrivals.
A number of member states said they were ready to help and reflected on their own experience: Poland and Lithuania , while and spoke of their dealings with sudden arrivals of large numbers of people. But despite the warm words, many governments remain critical of , which has triggered nearly 1.2m applications.
“There is some concern that the regularisation of 1.2m people can be used to paint a picture that the door is open.”
This issue is set to run. And EU migration policy in general, including controversial plans for , will be high on the agenda in the autumn, including at the EU’s next scheduled summit in October.
Danube drought - in pictures
