Photos: Unusually low rivers in Germany hit shipping industry hard

The ongoing drought across Germany has caused rivers to plunge to unusually low levels, creating issues from shipping traffic being halted to unexploded World War II military weapons being unearthed.

Low water levels are being reported on the Rhine, Danube, Weser, Main and Elbe rivers in Germany. The Rhine has hit its lowest water levels on record at several points, according to the Associated Press (AP).

The Elbe River at Magdeburg has dropped to a depth of 50 cm (less than 20 inches). At least double that level is needed for normal shipping traffic, Hartmut Rhein of the city’s waterways and shipping department told the AP.

No ships carrying goods are allowed to navigate the Elbe River from south of Leipzig to the Czech Republic.

With less oil being transported on the river, the Germany government unlocked reserves of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, according to The Local, for only the fourth time in 40 years.

Shipping traffic has not been halted on the Rhine, but companies are running more boats to compensate for carrying less weight (so the boats do not ride so low in the water).

That has led to higher freight prices with higher prices at gas pumps and for home heating oil, the AP stated.

The low river levels have also killed fish and freshwater mussels, while the nation's agricultural industry is facing feed shortages.

Items are being unearthed as the rivers lower. Sandbanks that have not been seen before in modern history have appeared on the Rhine, according to the AP. An American bomb dropped during World World II appeared along the river near Neuwied.

High pressure that dominated the weather across Germany in recent months is being blamed for the rainfall shortages, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert said.

"From the summer to early autumn, a persistent high pressure frequently blocked storms from bringing rain to Germany," he said. "With the dry spell, temperatures have averaged well above normal."

Magdeburg has only received 40 percent of its normal rainfall since June. For Berlin and Frankfurt, those percentages stand at 37 and 28, respectively.

A storm that slammed Italy and surrounding areas in recent days brought beneficial rain to Baden-Wurttemberg and Bavaria over the weekend; however, the remainder of the country saw little or no rainfall.

Some additional light rain fell in southern and western Germany on Tuesday, but was not enough to impact the ongoing drought conditions.

Largely dry weather will prevail across Germany from Wednesday into this weekend.

"A drier-than-normal autumn throughout most of Germany will give way to a more active storm pattern, which is expected to last throughout much of the upcoming winter," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Eric Leister.

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