[Source: BBC]

Much of Europe is baking in record heat, which has exposed riverbeds and triggered restrictions on water use in many areas.

In the Netherlands the level of the Waal – the main Dutch branch of the River Rhine – has dropped below the bottom marker on a bridge at Nijmegen.

The city lies near the German border, and the Rhine is a key artery for cargo vessels and ferries.

Newly exposed stretches of the Waal reveal dumped bicycles, car tyres and other detritus.

Parts of the IJssel river, flowing north, are now so narrow that a ban has been imposed on ships passing each other. And the heat has caused toxic algal blooms to flourish in parts of the Maas and Waal rivers, so people have been warned not to swim there, and to keep their dogs out of the water.