This once-thriving lake has all but dried up. It’s a story repeated across Europe as the drought deepens

Lake Montbel is a shimmering, turquoise lake, stretching across 1,400 acres of southwest France, in the foothills of the Pyrenees – a haven for wildlife, a vital source of irrigation for farmers and water for local rivers, and a tourist paradise. But after the driest winter in more than six decades, it is a shadow of its former self. Shrunken water levels, grounded boats, buoys resting on the cracked earth of the lake bed – current views of Lake Montbel are more reminiscent of what might be expected at the tail end of a scorching summer. Not at the end of winter. Currently at about 28% of its capacity, water levels are less than half what is usual for this time of the year...more