Netherlands Drought
Houseboat owners pull up water for plants from the Waal river in Nijmegen, Netherlands, Thursday, July 30, 2026, during drought conditions.
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The Netherlands and Germany are suffering the consequences of a European heat wave that has brought dought and sparked devastating wildfires in France, Spain, Portugal, Crete and elsewhere. For the Dutch the dry conditions are a threat to hundreds of miles of dikes that protect the low-lying country from flooding in the winter. In Germany, the lack of rainfall has led to record low levels in the Rhine, one of Europe's major rivers and a superhighway for freight that is transported in ships along its navigation channels. Dutch authorities are patrolling dikes to check for possible damage as the structures dry out.
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