One of eastern Europe's busiest transport routes is stuck - literally. The waters of the Danube are so low due to lack of rain that 80 big cargo ships are stranded. The Danube is Europe's second largest river and winds 2,860 kilometers, passing through eight countries before flowing into the Black Sea.

The Czech Republic is at its driest since records began in 1775.

Sunken World War II German battle ships have surfaced on the Danube and unexploded bombs that fell during the 1940s emerged from the Sava river in Serbia. The current level of the river along the Bulgarian bank is at its lowest since 1941, and shipping on large stretches of the river has ground to a halt, according to the Bulgarian Executive Agency for Exploration and Maintenance of the Danube River.


Romanians drive a horse-pulled cart loaded with sand collected from the dried river bed of the Susita river near Tisita (200km north east from Bucharest) on Friday. DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Record drought on the Danube exposes sunken WWII battleships, causes water shortages by Amer Cohadzic and Marko Drobnjakovic, TheStar.com