This is what's behind it

Dry winter ensures low Danube water levels

Disturbing pictures were taken in Greifenstein near the city limits of Vienna ...(Bild: Thomas Bajer)

The mild temperatures draw people out into nature. But they are also making terrible discoveries: Images are currently circulating on social media showing dried-up branches of the Danube and sandy deserts. A consequence of the almost snowless and rainless winter?

"On the border with Döbling, near the Danube in Greifenstein. Damn little water in the Danube!" With a Facebook post and two shocking pictures of a stranded ship in a local Facebook group, a user causes a discussion. "Not good at all," replied one user with a sad smiley face, and the discussion quickly turned to whether too little precipitation was to blame. After all, last winter was the driest for 28 years. 

Recent pictures from Kritzendorf (see below), also in Lower Austria and close to Vienna, also seem to confirm the theory: gray sand instead of soft green banks and walkable areas that are otherwise at least shallowly lapped by the Danube water even in summer. So is the Danube really at a dangerously low level? The "Krone" asked meteorologists and the DDSG.

"This winter, there has been up to 95 percent less precipitation than usual," explains Marcus Rubel, meteorologist at Ubimet. This naturally also has an impact on the water level of the Danube. It is more common for the water level to be low shortly before the snow melts. However, there is hardly any snow on the mountains this year that could melt. The tributaries of the Danube in the Alpine foothills and in the Mostviertel are also shallow. The drought is already having a serious impact on nature. The risk of forest fires is increasing. 

On the Danube itself, the situation is not yet quite as dramatic, as the DDSG assures: "Everything is navigable, there are no restrictions." The excursion boats have little draught and can set off even when there is little water.

The flood is to blame
But how did the disturbing images come about? The explanation, it's hard to believe, lies in last year's flood of all things. "It's too much mud and sand from the 2024 flood! Work has already begun to dredge away the masses of sand and mud," explains one user on Facebook - and hits the bull's eye.