Budapest's Danube drops to a historic 1 cm, crippling river traffic
The Danube in Budapest recorded a water level of just 1 cm, the lowest ever measured, threatening navigation and safety.
On Tuesday, water-level gauges in Budapest indicated the Danube had fallen to a mere 1 cm, eclipsing the prior negative record of 27 cm recorded in 2018. The river had already slipped below that benchmark in July and continued to recede by almost another 20 cm during August. The unprecedented low is already disrupting commercial navigation and creating safety hazards as hidden obstacles become exposed, such as a shipwreck near Baja that can now be walked around and the visible remains of the former Ferenc József Bridge near the Liberty Bridge.
Hydrologists attribute the situation to an extended period of scant rainfall across the Danube catchment. Meteorologists forecast a rain-bearing front to move into the basin by Wednesday evening, which could modestly lift the river’s level. The episode underscores the broader impact of the summer-long drought on Central Europe’s waterways.
