Hungary comes ‘within millimetres’ of shutting down nuclear power plant amid drought crisis – Europe live

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Danube drought - in pictures
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Morning opening: Hungary 'within millimetres' of shutting down its nuclear plant as region fights extreme weather and droughts

Danube drought - in pictures

Usually submerged areas of the Danube River are exposed amid exceptionally low water levels, in Rasova, Romania. Photograph: Vadim Ghirdă/AP

A drone view shows Romanian authorities using a dredging ship to alter the flow of water on Danube's Old branch, near Izvoarele, Romania. Photograph: George Calin/Reuters

A man splashes water on a horse to cool it off next to a bank of sand on the Danube River, as usually submerged areas are exposed due to extreme low levels of the water in Roseti, Romania. Photograph: Andreea Alexandru/AP

An aerial drone photo shows the exposed riverbed of the Danube River in Dunaszentbenedek, Hungary. Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite shows the Danube River and its water levels as it passes through the town of Paks, as well as the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, south of Budapest, Hungary. Photograph: COPERNICUS SENTINEL DATA 2026/AFP/Getty Images

Morning opening: Hungary 'within millimetres' of shutting down its nuclear plant as region fights extreme weather and droughts

Jakub Krupa

Hungary has come “within millimetres” of having to shut down its nuclear power plant overnight, prime minister Péter Magyar said, as low water levels in the Danube continue to pose challenges for countries in south-eastern Europe.

Paks Nuclear Power Plant with the partially dried-up Danube riverbed in Dunaszentbenedek, Hungary. Photograph: Bernadett Szabó/Reuters

“Around 1:30 a.m. we were a few millimetres away from completely shutting down the Paks Power Plant, but then the water level stopped falling and by morning it had risen 1.5 centimetres. The last turbine is currently operating safely,” Magyar said on social media.

The plant already operates at a reduced capacity of just over 10% after the Danube fell to a record low, making it impossible to cool it properly.

Energy minister István Kapitány said on Tuesday that a number of energy saving measures succeeded in lowering energy consumption to keep the grid secure.

A number of businesses have made significant adjustments to their normal ways of working to save energy consumption during the peak hours. For example, a grocery chain Lidl changed its baking shifts, and turned off its drink fridges – despite temperatures expected to get close to 40C. Electric car chargers in their parkings can only be used until 5pm, HVG reported.

Over in Romania, the government celebrated that a two-centimetre rise in water levels after yesterday’s spectacular controlled explosion, intended to divert the flow of the Danube to help cool its Cernavodă nuclear plant.

The plant manager told local media that it should help keep the plant running during the next few days, but more interventions are planned today, with plans to sink old barges to further divert the flow of water.

Temperatures are set to surpass 40C in large parts of Romania today, again.

Elsewhere, I will keep an eye on the much-awaited meeting of EU interior ministers who will discuss last week’s migration crisis in Ceuta amid questions about the EU’s relationship with Morocco and the steps needed to secure the bloc’s external borders.

Migrants wait in line to receive food and beverage from the Red Cross, following mass crossings of migrants on foot and by sea from Morocco into Spanish territory, in Ceuta, Spain. — People wait in line to receive food and beverage from the Red Cross, following mass crossings on foot and by sea from Morocco into Spanish territory, in Ceuta, Spain. Photograph: Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters

They are meeting at 10am Brussels time, and we should hear from the EU’s migration commissioner, Magnus Brunner, in the early afternoon.

I will bring you all the latest lines here.

It’s Tuesday, 4 August 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.