South-eastern Europe is facing a widening heatwave-driven energy crunch as record temperatures, drought and low river levels strain power systems across the region. In Romania, the navy carried out a controlled explosion today to move a large rock blocking the Danube and increase water flow to the Old Danube and the Cernavodă nuclear power plant, which needs cooling support.
Some 180 kg of explosives were used, according to Adevărul, to shift the rock restricting the river’s flow. Acting defence minister Radu Miruță said the operation was a success and would help with cooling the plant and water transport on the river.
Given the continuing extreme weather conditions, the Cernavodă plant may still have to temporarily suspend its operations at some point, but any extra day of its work is worth more than the cost of the explosion, he said.
The Romanian naval forces’ intervention comes as drought has reduced the Danube’s water flow in Romania to 1,500 cubic metres per second, less than a third of its July average. The country declared a nationwide state of emergency throughout August last Friday after record low Danube river levels disrupted electricity generation.
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. The first unit had to shut down over the weekend. From tomorrow, further interventions on the Danube will be taken to redirect and boost water flow at the plant, prime minister Ilie Bolojan said.
The measures are aimed at reducing energy consumption by large-scale industrial consumers and protecting grid stability if the second unit at Cernavodă, already running in restricted mode, also has to be closed. Romania’s carmakers Dacia and Ford have temporarily suspended production until 19 August, and more companies are expected to follow suit. On Monday, many digital advertising screens were also switched off as part of a broader push to seek savings wherever possible.
Bolojan said the highest risk would be between 7pm and 11pm, when the country is expected to face a significant deficit in energy supplies and rely on imported electricity. The peak of the current heatwave is expected on Wednesday and Thursday, with temperatures set to cross into the 40s C and come close to all-time records.
Here is a better look at the controlled explosion in Romania.
Why is the Danube becoming a growing problem for power plants?
Low water levels on the Danube are increasingly disrupting electricity generation, cooling systems and transport across the region. Romania and Serbia have also reported their lowest-ever water levels, and the drought is affecting hydropower output as well as nuclear and coal-fired facilities.
At Djerdap 1, Serbia’s largest hydropower plant, output has fallen to 20% of capacity, production director Davor Maljoković told , 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 intervention on the Danube is part of a wider effort to preserve electricity generation during the prolonged heatwave. The country is trying to keep the Cernavodă nuclear power plant operating for as long as possible, even as extreme weather continues to restrict the river flow needed for cooling.
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, reported.
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.”
What is happening in Greece?
Greece is battling one of the worst wildfire seasons of the last decade, according to Theodore Giannaros, a senior wildfire meteorologist at the National Observatory, who spoke to AFP on Monday. Hundreds of firefighters have been battling multiple blazes across the country, which have claimed five lives over the past two weeks.
“I would say that it is definitely one of the worst fire crises I’ve seen in the past, maybe eight to 10 years.”
Over the weekend, Giannaros said the fires around Porto Germeno, about 70 kilometres (45 miles) by road northwest of Athens in the region of Viotia, were likely to be classified as a megafire. Greece has endured a succession of destructive fire disasters between 2018 and 2025, from the deadly Mati wildfire in 2018 to the massive Evros blaze in 2023, cementing the eastern Mediterranean’s status as one of Europe’s most vulnerable regions to wildfires, AFP noted.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Greek firefighters continued to battle a wildfire northwest of Athens for a fourth day after blazes fanned by strong winds gutted homes, thousands of hectares of farmland and pine forests, and forced emergency evacuations by land and sea, reported.
Strong firefighting forces assisted by water tanks and 21 aircraft were deployed near the communities of Kandili and Agia Skepi early on Monday as plumes of thick black smoke and red flames engulfed lush pine forests, images showed.
Two firefighting helicopters 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.
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.
The wildfire picture from Greece also shows firefighters operating near Mount Kithairon and flames near Porto Germeno, where the conditions remain difficult for crews on the ground and in the air.
What is happening in France and the Netherlands?
In France, thousands of evacuees were allowed to return home or to holiday accommodation after a massive wildfire remained contained, AP said. More than 224,000 people had fled in what officials said was the country’s largest civilian evacuation outside wartime as the wildfire burned about 420 square kilometres (162 square miles), making it France’s largest wildfire on record.
Monday’s return includes the Cap Ferret peninsula, a tourist hotspot along the Atlantic coast, and Le Porge, the municipality hardest hit by the fire, where 183 homes were destroyed, AP said.
Our picture editors have also produced a gallery showing the devastation wrought in Greece by the wildfires, which have already resulted in several deaths, including two people on Sunday who died when two firefighting helicopters collided.
The fire in France destroyed homes and forced a huge evacuation before it was brought under control.
In the Netherlands, the fire department is battling a very large blaze in the De Rosmolen nature reserve.
What is the political fallout from Ceuta?
The political fallout from the migration crisis in Ceuta last week continues, with the European Commission and several member states weighing the response. We now have a copy of Ursula von der Leyen’s letter to Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez, in which she sought to balance solidarity with Spain and reassurance to other capitals.
In the letter, she tells the much-criticised Spanish PM that she wanted to “commend [him] for the swift handling of the returns of those who entered Ceuta illegally from Morocco.”
“But Spanish and Moroccan authorities have managed this efficiently and effectively, successfully preventing illegal movement onwards to mainland Spain and ,” she said.
She also welcomed Madrid’s “further deterrent actions … to prevent further illegal arrivals, such as reinforced surveillance of the maritime border.”
Von der Leyen also praised Morocco despite growing questions about its role in the border incident, calling it “an important strategic partner” in fighting irregular migration and saying the EU wants to develop a “more structured” partnership with it, which could include “border management early-warning systems.”
“we do have a robust system in place to safeguard Europe’s security and sovereignty.”
She also said that “migration is a European challenge that requires a European response,” and added that “we must do more to further strengthen our borders at critical points.”
At the same time, she repeatedly referenced the need to show “solidarity” with Spain and the commission’s “enduring support” to help Madrid “overcome this current challenge.”
More must be done to strengthen the European Union’s borders at critical points, von der Leyen told Sánchez in the carefully calibrated letter first reported by and several Spanish media.
“In cooperation with Spain, especially on anything related to Ceuta and Melilla, we could enhance border management early-warning systems and improve our technical and financial support to Morocco,” she wrote in the letter.
We are working on getting the full text of the letter for you. Italy’s formal notification of the temporary reintroduction of border controls with Spain has also now been published.
It cites “threats to public policy and internal security” and “the management of migration flows due to recent events in the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta, resulting from large-scale irregular entries of third-country nationals, with a risk of secondary movements within the Schengen area.”
The border control measures, which Italy said would be carried out in a “targeted” way and apply to third-country nationals travelling by air and sea, are expected to be in place for a month, until 1 September.
(Just a reminder: that last bit is heavily contested as there is no free flow of people from Ceuta to the rest of the EU, with strict border controls for anyone leaving the territory for mainland .)
Our picture editors have also produced a gallery of Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez and interior minister Fernando Grande Marlaska visiting Ceuta in North Africa last week amid the ongoing migration crisis in the territory.
How are other parts of Europe coping with the heat?
The latest heatwave that hit western Europe last week is now moving eastwards, with large parts of central and southern Europe set to experience extreme temperatures near 40C, putting countries at risk of an energy crunch.
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 were switched off 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.”
Budapest and Vienna are expected to see temperatures of up to 37C on Monday, with Zagreb at 36C, Tirana at 35C and Bucharest at 33C, and these temperatures are expected to last for up to five days. But it does not mean it will necessarily be much cooler in the west, with 36C in Rome and 3...
