In pictures: Drought exposes Word War II ships, strands boats as Europe’s river levels plunge

  Scientists from Rousse's Regional Historical Museum examine the remains of an ancient mammoth as historically low water levels on the Danube River exposed parts of the riverbed near the village of Ryahovo, south of Bucharest, on July 30, 2026. The Romanian Navy detonates underwater explosives during a controlled demolition of submerged rocks to improve water flow amid exceptionally low water levels on the Danube River, Izvoarele, Romania, August 3, 2026. Boats in a marina left stranded on dry ground by the low water level of the Danube River near Apatin, Serbia, on August 4, 2026. A frog floats in a puddle in an area that is usually fully submerged along the Danube River in Rasova, Romania, August 3, 2026. A former eel fishing boat covered in dried mud is seen on low water near the banks of the river Rhine near Neuss, western Germany, on July 30, 2026. A plant sprout emerges from dried-out soil of the partially dry Loire riverbed in Chécy near Orléans in central France on July 22, 2026. Visitors bathe and sit on the sand of the partially dry Loire riverbed in Orléans, central France on July 22, 2026.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)