Poland's weather agency warns most river levels low

Most of Poland's rivers are suffering from drought, the national weather agency said Friday, with the Vistula river in Warsaw likely to see a record-low level in the coming days.

The IMGW institute said climate change was to blame, as milder winters with less snow alongside fewer days of rain and higher temperatures push down water levels.

"At the moment, 70 percent of Poland's rivers are in the low water level zone," IMGW hydrologist Grzegorz Walijewski told AFP.

"We've been dealing with hydrological drought in Poland for a while. Since 2015 there's been permanent drought," he said.

In Warsaw, the level of the Vistula river had sunk to 29 centimetres (11 inches) as of Friday, close to the 2015 record of 26 centimetres.

"This weekend will likely see the record matched and later it will be even lower," Walijewski said. "Current models show that it could be 21 to 23 centimetres."

He warned that low water levels had widespread consequences, affecting "farming, the economy, waterway transport, also water power... and tourism".

"So ultimately every one of us will feel the effects of drought," he said.

He also noted that Poland's climate had changed drastically, with average temperature rising by 2.1 degrees Celsius (3.8 degrees Fahrenheit) over the past 73 years.

The temperatures now seen in the central European country are like those "some 50 years ago in northern parts of Italy or the Hungarian plain, or Slovenia", he said.