The Rhine's water level at Cologne fell to 68 centimetres on Friday morning, breaking the previous record low of 69 centimetres set in October 2018, after a prolonged heatwave and drought shrank the river in both depth and width.
Duisburg-Ruhrort sank to a historic low of 153 centimetres and is forecast to drop to 152 centimetres by late evening, while Düsseldorf is expected to set a new negative record of 22 centimetres early Saturday. At Emmerich, near the Dutch border, forecasters predict the gauge will read zero on Sunday morning rather than the minus three previously anticipated. South of Koblenz at Kaub, navigation for large commercial barges has become impossible.
The drought's toll is widening beyond the Rhine. Hungary and Romania were forced to shut down nuclear power stations because of low water on the Danube, and Hungary's Lake Balaton has dried up, triggering booking cancellations.