Remnants of Europe’s Nazi past have emerged from the depths of the Danube as sweltering temperatures and drought drive water levels to record lows.

The hull and broken mast of a ship belonging to Nazi Germany’s Black Sea fleet can be seen on a sandbank near the Serbian port of Prahovo.

Dozens of war ships, exploded ordnance and a military motorcycle are among historic and prehistoric relics that have been exposed.

A German military motorcycle was found in another part of the Danube, in Budapest, Hungary. Photo: AP

Summers are becoming ever more extreme in Europe, which is warming faster than any other continent in the world. Successive heatwaves have sucked moisture from soils and waterways, in a crisis so severe it can be seen from space.

Low water levels have exposed vast stretches of riverbanks and long sandbars usually hidden beneath the surface.

Historians say the German military deliberately sank up to 200 ships in the Black Sea fleet towards the end of the second world war to slow down the Soviet advance. The Serbian government has tried to remove them but most remain in place because they contain explosives.

A sandbank on the Danube River is exposed amid exceptionally low water levels, in Rasova, Romania. Photo: AP

The Danube is a lifeblood to communities in the 10 countries it passes through or for which it forms a national border. In 2025 it carried 62.7 million tons of cargo.

Record-low water levels have forced ​Hungary to largely ‌shut down its only nuclear plant, which uses the river for cooling, stretching power supply capacity to its limits.

Romania is preparing to sink ​four rock-filled barges into the river to divert water to its only working reactor.

Thousands of deaths have been reported during the European summer. Experts warn that much of the continent’s infrastructure is not designed to withstand such heat.

Italy is on high alert for the high temperatures but tourists still crowd the Colosseum. Photo: AP

Italy has taken the unprecedented step of placing all its major cities on the highest level of health alert due to ‌high temperatures. France and Spain have been ravaged by destructive wildfires, while Hungary has turned off the lights at some of its best-known buildings.

Temperatures in Austria hit successive national records last week, peaking at 41.2C.

In Bosnia, tourists have taken shelter in the cool temperatures of the UNESCO-listed Vjetrenica cave to escape temperatures of 40C.