VIDEO SHOWS: DROUGHTS IN EUROPE IN AUGUST / SOUNDBITES FROM PEOPLE AFFECTED

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: -----UNITED KINGDOM-----

Half of England was officially in drought after exceptionally low rainfall and prolonged high temperatures depleted rivers and reservoirs, the Environment Agency said, with drone footage on August 1 capturing parched grassland around Stonehenge and across London as a rapidly developing "flash drought" spread across the country.

Just 7 percent of the long-term July average rainfall had fallen so far, dropping to 1 percent in parts of southern England, the agency said. About 78 percent of England's rivers ran below normal levels, reservoir storage had dropped to 75.3 percent of capacity, and seven water companies had imposed water-use restrictions covering roughly 23 million customers.

It was England's third drought in five years, following those in 2022 and 2025, the Environment Agency said.

LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 1, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all) (MUTE)

1. VARIOUS OF DRONE VIEWS SHOWING ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH SURROUNDED BY PARCHED GRASSLAND AT BLACKHEATH COMMON, WITH THE CANARY WHARF BUSINESS DISTRICT VISIBLE IN BACKGROUND

2. VARIOUS OF DRONE VIEWS SHOWING PLAYERS TAKING PART IN A LOCAL CRICKET MATCH PLAYING ON A PITCH SURROUNDED BY PARCHED GRASSLAND

BRIGHTON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 1, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

3. VARIOUS DRONE VIEWS OF DRIED-UP POND (MUTE)

4. VARIOUS OF DRIED POND BED

5. CRACKED GROUND / SIGN, READING (English): "No fishing"

Drought conditions revealed the foundations of a former medieval monastery and an earlier sixteenth century house, under the lawns at a historic house in England's south east.

Drone footage taken on August 4 showed dry patches in the grass known as parch marks, where grass over buried foundations dries out differently to other areas, on the lawns at National Trust's Mottisfont house in Hampshire.

HAMPSHIRE, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 4, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

6. VARIOUS OF DRONE VIEWS OF DRY PATCHES IN THE GRASS KNOWN AS PARCH MARKS, REVEALING THE FOUNDATIONS OF A FORMER MEDIEVAL MONASTERY AND EARLIER SIXTEENTH CENTURY HOUSE UNDER THE LAWNS AT NATIONAL TRUST'S MOTTISFONT HOUSE (MUTE)

7. DRY LAWN IN FRONT OF THE NATIONAL TRUST'S MOTTISFONT HOUSE

8. DRY LAWN / MOTTISFONT HOUSE

-----GERMANY-----

Low water levels on the Rhine are revealing hidden sights in Germany on August 4, including an old sunken fishing boat.

The fishing boat discovered in Neuss was used in the 1990s, but now serves as a warning of low water levels in the Rhine. The boat was last visible in 2022.

Other stark markers of the current drought can be found in Worms with the hunger stones. The stones are hydrological landmarks, put into rivers and other waters during droughts, to warn future generations of the potential of drought-induced famines to come.

NEUSS, GERMANY (AUGUST 4, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

9. DRONE SHOT OF OLD EEL SKIPPER IN LOW WATER, WHICH USED TRAWLS TO CATCH EELS AND OTHER FISH

10. FISHING BOAT

WORMS, GERMANY (AUGUST 4, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

11. BOAT PASSING BY / MEASUREMENT STONE IN LOW WATER

12. MAN LOOKING AT RIVER

13. MEASUREMENT STONE

14. (SOUNDBITE) (German) PASSER-BY, CHRISTIAN STAERKE, SAYING:

"But this month is so extreme—the prolonged heat. It’s not just a brief spell of 40 degrees or something. We’ve had this heat for—I think—over eight weeks now. Yeah, it’s scary. Of course it’s scary."

15. VARIOUS OF MAN WADING THROUGH WATER IN RHINE/ BOAT PASSING BY

-----CROATIA-----

As major rivers across Europe are hit by drought, in Croatia the historically low water levels revealed a shipwreck and left many boats stranded on docks along the river on August 2. In the city of Osijek, specialists pulled explosive shell out of the water to further examine it.

OSIJEK, CROATIA (AUGUST 2, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

16. COUNTER-EXPLOSIVE SERVICE SPECIALIST AND FIREFIGHTER INSPECTING EXPLOSIVE ORDINANCE REVEALED BY LOW WATER LEVEL

17. COUNTER-EXPLOSIVE SERVICE SPECIALIST EXTRACTING SHELL FROM DRAVA RIVER

18. VARIOUS OF SPECIALIST AND FIREFIGHTER AT WORK

19. FIREFIGHTER TRUCKS

20. VARIOUS DRONE VIEWS OF SHIPWRECK SEEN DUE TO LOW WATER LEVELS OF THE DRAVA RIVER (MUTE)

21. (SOUNDBITE) (Croatian) OSIJEK LOCAL, ZELIJKO POPIC, SAYING:

"In my 55 years, I have never experienced the Drava river being this low, some old ships coming out like this, the old bridge down.The river has always been low, but something like this... and since the next couple of days the temperatures will be low, I mean high, it means that the water level will be even lower. My God, where did the fish go?"

-----POLAND-----

Poland faced a worsening drought on August 4 with major rivers at record lows and another heatwave pushing temperatures towards 40 degrees Celsius in the country's south.

WARSAW, POLAND (AUGUST 4, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all) (MUTE)

22. VARIOUS DRONE SHOTS OF CLOSE TO RECORD LOW WATER LEVELS IN VISTULA RIVER, SANDBANKS

23. DRONE SHOTS OF A TREE LOG IN THE DRIED-UP RIVERBED OF THE VISTULA

24. VARIOUS DRONE SHOTS OF CLOSE TO RECORD LOW WATER LEVELS IN VISTULA RIVER

-----ROMANIA-----

Romanian authorities were preparing to sink barges full of rocks in the Danube on August 4 in an attempt to divert water to the Cernavoda nuclear power plant, which uses the river as a source of coolant.

Romanian state-owned nuclear power producer Nuclearelectrica, which normally generates a fifth of the country's electricity needs, had to shut down one of its two reactors early last week as river levels fell.

On August 3, authorities used controlled explosions to blast through riverbed rocks in the hopes of boosting water flow to the plant.

Heat and drought have lowered river levels across large parts of Europe this summer, raising concerns about water supplies, river transport and power generation.

NEAR IZVOARELE, ROMANIA (AUGUST 4, 2026) (ROMANIA STATE WATER MANAGEMENT AGENCY - Access all)

25. VARIOUS OF EXCAVATORS LOADING ROCKS ONTO BARGES TO BE SUNK IN DANUBE RIVER TO DIVERT WATER FLOW TOWARDS CERNAVODA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

-----HUNGARY-----

Budapesters were worried for the future on August 4 as a severe drought left the bed of the Danube river exposed.

Some locals ventured out onto the dry riverbed, stacking stones and taking seldom-possible photos in the middle of the river.

Hungary is facing electricity shortages as the low water levels force the Paks nuclear power plant, which uses the river for cooling, to shut down its reactors. Voluntary reductions in electricity use by households and more than 300 companies, following a government appeal, have helped lower demand and ease pressure on the national grid. However, Prime Minister Peter Magyar has warned that this week will be critical as hot weather persists.

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (AUGUST 4, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

26. VARIOUS DRONE SHOTS OF DRIED SHORES OF DANUBE IN OUTSKIRTS OF BUDAPEST (MUTE)

27. DRONE SHOT OF PEOPLE STANDING ON SANDBANK (MUTE)

28. VARIOUS HEAPS OF STONES STACKED ON TOP OF EACH OTHER, PARLIAMENT BUILDING IN BACKGROUND

29. WOMAN TAKING PICTURE

30. (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) PASSERBY, KRISZTINA NEMETH, SAYING:

“It's a sad and a scary thing, and a very serious warning to society that we need to be careful with our resources. We need to pay more attention to our environment, and I think it's a very serious wake-up call.”

Hungary's Prime Minister, Peter Magyar, visited Paks nuclear power plant on August 4 which is currently operating around 10% of its capacity because of the low water levels in the Danube, which the plant uses as coolant.

PAKS, HUNGARY (AUGUST 4, 2026) (PETER MAGYAR VIA FACEBOOK - Access all) (ORIGINALLY SHOT IN PORTRAIT)

31. VARIOUS OF HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER, PETER MAGYAR, INSIDE PAKS NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IN SAFETY HELMET BEING SHOWN VARIOUS MACHINERY (MUTE)

32. MAGYAR AND OTHERS OUTSIDE, OVERLOOKING WATER AND OUTSIDE OF PLANT

-----SERBIA-----

A severe heatwave across the Balkans has left water buffalo at Serbia's largest buffalo farm struggling to cope with extreme temperatures.

The family's farm in Knicanin, home to around 200 water buffalo, had two essential cooling ponds completely dry up during the intense summer drought.

Drone footage showed the buffalo lying in remaining mud patches to cool down, while others grazed on increasingly dry grassland. The animals were seen drinking water from pipes as their natural water sources disappeared.

KNICANIN, SERBIA (AUGUST 3, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all)

33. (MUTE) DRONE VIEW OF FARM, DRY LAND

34. (MUTE) DRONE VIEW OF BUFFALO ON FARM

35. (MUTE) DRONE VIEW OF BUFFALO ON DRY LAND

36. BUFFALO ON DRY LAND

37. VARIOUS OF BUFFALO LYING IN MUD TO COOL DOWN

38. BUFFALO DRINKING WATER FROM PIPE