See the long-lost relics unearthed by Europe's drying rivers amid the summer heat wave

A man stands on top of an old World War II-era ship from the Danube riverbed in Baja, Hungary, on Aug.

8.

Robert Nemeti/Anadolu via Getty Images Record-setting heat has hit Europe, with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

The low water levels unearthed prehistoric and 20th-century relics along Europe's key rivers.

Low water levels have also drastically reduced freight transportation.

A combination of severe heat and little rain has left many of Europe's rivers drier than normal this summer, revealing formerly submerged relics and blind spots in the continent's supply chain.

The two rivers at the center of the crisis are the Danube and the Rhine.

Both serve as major arteries for shipping and freight transport across Europe.

In 2025, Germany and the Netherlands accounted for nearly 72% of the EU's total inland waterway transport, according to the European Statistical Office , or Eurostat.

Beyond freight, they also have long histories dating back to wartime and prehistoric animal migration.

This summer, record-low water levels have brought long-submerged relics to the surface.

A local resident in Ryahovo, Bulgaria, stumbled upon woolly mammoth remains and notified both local authorities and the Regional History Museum in the nearby town of Ruse.

Krasimir Kirov, a curator and ecologist at the museum, told Business Insider that this is not the first time mammoth remains have been discovered in the region, with discoveries dating back to the mid 20th century.

The current lower water levels and direct sunlight, however, threaten the preservation of the bones, he said.