Dozens of sunken WWII German ships resurface along Danube River as water levels hit record low

As Europe continues to experience a record heat wave that one top scientist said could signal its worst drought in 500 years, receding water levels along the continent's massive Danube River have exposed around two dozen sunken ships that belonged to the German army during World War II, according to Reuters.

The Danube, which is Europe's second-longest river, stretches from the Black Forest in southwestern Germany to the Black Sea in eastern Romania. Its water levels reached one of their lowest points in almost a century this year, and recently fell five feet in three weeks' time at a stretch near Budapest, the Associated Press reported. The area's leading water company warned that the sudden drop could threaten its supply of drinking water, according to the AP.

About 380 miles south of Hungary's capital city, receding water along the Danube near Prahovo, Servia, revealed the hulks of more than 20 vessels once operated by Nazi Germany's Black Sea fleet, which traveled through the waterway while retreating from Soviet forces toward the end of the war. Hundreds of sunken German warships are scattered across the Danube River, and they can pose dangers to current river traffic and shipping when water levels fall too low, according to Reuters.