There are no gondolas in the canals of Venice at the moment: the water is low and the canals threaten to dry up. This is due to the dry winter weather that has been going on for weeks. Precipitation is reported to be exceptionally low at this time of year Watchman.

Climate scientists and organizations report that Italian rivers and lakes, especially in the north of the country, suffer from a serious shortage of water. This is partly because half of the normal amount of snow falls in the Alps.

They fear an emergency again. Northern Italy indeed suffered the most severe drought in seventy years last summer. Then the Po, the largest river in Italy, largely dried up. The water level in the Po River is now 61 percent lower than normal for this time of year.

The situation in Venice is great, as the northern Italian city has been in the news regularly due to flooding. Now gondolas and water taxis are being forced to a standstill.

Massimiliano Pasqui, a climate expert at the Italian research institute CNR, says it needs about fifty days of rain to restore the water level. According to the latest weather reports, snow is expected in the Alps in the coming days.