UPDATE 1-Low water levels on Danube disrupt shipping as heatwave hits Hungary

Unusually low water levels on the Danube river in Hungary are affecting shipping, agriculture, and local ecosystems along Europe's second-longest river, which is a major transport route across the continent.

Temperatures peaked at 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) in Budapest this week as much of Europe baked in an early summer heatwave linked to the death of at least eight people. As a result of the low water levels, cargo ships must leave behind more than half of their cargo and can only operate at 30-40% capacity, Attila Bencsik, deputy president of the Hungarian Shipping Association, said.

Shipping rates might increase by as much as 100% as a surcharge is added when a ship cannot sail fully loaded, he said. Such low water levels have been previously recorded on the Danube, but they usually happen in August, Attila Szegi, a deputy spokesman for the Hungarian General Directorate of Water Management, said.

Szegi said that rain was expected in the Danube catchment area next week, which should lead to a slight rise in water levels and an improvement in the shipping situation. The Hungarian state meteorological institute HungaroMet said that rainfall in June was only 17% of the average for that month, making this June the driest since 1901.

"June is one of the most rainy months of the year in our climate, and now we have this low water level," Gyorgy Matavovszki said, as he stopped with his kayak on a sandbank at Szob, a town north of Budapest. "It has its beauty because the water is clear, it is easy to paddle in it ..., but it is worrying."

The Vistula river was at a record low in Warsaw, and the Rhine in Germany was also unusually low. Michał Sikora, a meteorologist and hydrologist at Poland's IMGW, said that the Vistula River reached a record low level of 19 centimetres (7.48 inches) on Friday, adding that it is expected to decline further in the coming days, possibly to below 15 centimetres.

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