From 25m agoMorning opening: Hungary 'within millimetres' of shutting down its nuclear plant as region fights extreme weather and droughtsJakub KrupaHungary has come “within millimetres” of having to shut down its nuclear power plant overnight, prime minister Péter Magyar said, as low water levels in the Danube continue to pose challenges for countries in south-eastern Europe.Paks Nuclear Power Plant with the partially dried-up Danube riverbed in Dunaszentbenedek, Hungary. Photograph: Bernadett Szabó/Reuters“Around 1:30 a.m. we were a few millimetres away from completely shutting down the Paks Power Plant, but then the water level stopped falling and by morning it had risen 1.5 centimetres. The last turbine is currently operating safely,” Magyar said on social media.The plant already operates at a reduced capacity of just over 10% after the Danube fell to a record low, making it impossible to cool it properly.Energy minister István Kapitány said on Tuesday that a number of energy saving measures succeeded in lowering energy consumption to keep the grid secure.A number of businesses have made significant adjustments to their normal ways of working to save energy consumption during the peak hours. For example, a grocery chain Lidl changed its baking shifts, and turned off its drink fridges – despite temperatures expected to get close to 40C. Electric car chargers in their parkings can only be used until 5pm, HVG reported.Over in Romania, the government celebrated that a two-centimetre rise in water levels after yesterday’s spectacular controlled explosion, intended to divert the flow of the Danube to help cool its Cernavodă nuclear plant.The plant manager told local media that it should help keep the plant running during the next few days, but more interventions are planned today, with plans to sink old barges to further divert the flow of water.Temperatures are set to surpass 40C in large parts of Romania today, again.Elsewhere, I will keep an eye on the much-awaited meeting of EU interior ministers who will discuss last week’s migration crisis in Ceuta amid questions about the EU’s relationship with Morocco and the steps needed to secure the bloc’s external borders.People wait in line to receive food and beverage from the Red Cross, following mass crossings on foot and by sea from Morocco into Spanish territory, in Ceuta, Spain. Photograph: Violeta Santos Moura/ReutersThey are meeting at 10am Brussels time, and we should hear from the EU’s migration commissioner, Magnus Brunner, in the early afternoon.I will bring you all the latest lines here.It’s Tuesday, 4 August 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.Good morning.Key events4m agoEU ministers to discuss bloc's response to Ceuta migration crisis today20m agoDanube drought - in pictures25m agoMorning opening: Hungary 'within millimetres' of shutting down its nuclear plant as region fights extreme weather and droughtsEU ministers to discuss bloc's response to Ceuta migration crisis todayJennifer Rankinin BrusselsOver in Brussels, after a weekend of backbiting over the response to the mass border crossings in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, EU ministers will seek to present a more unified front – and signal tougher security at Europe’s frontiers.Migrants wait in line to receive food and beverage from the Red Cross, following mass crossings of migrants on foot and by sea from Morocco into Spanish territory, in Ceuta, Spain. Photograph: Violeta Santos Moura/ReutersEU home affairs ministers are meeting at 10.30 CET via video conference to assess the bloc’s response to the arrival – and quick departure – of tens of thousands of people at the Spanish territory in north Africa. Around 100 people are estimated to have died on both sides of the Spanish-Moroccan border.Ministers are not expected to take decisions, but EU sources think they will give a broad endorsement to the measures outlined by the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen on Monday, intended to ensure stronger border protection “at critical points” of the EU’s external border.Von der Leyen wants to double down on five areas: strengthening cooperation with non-EU countries to prevent migration; stronger external borders; implementing early warning systems; dismantling smuggling networks; and boosting returns of people with no right to stay.At a meeting of senior EU diplomats on Monday, several countries stressed the importance of preventing sudden movements of people, calling for greater use of intelligence and monitoring of disinformation and misinformation.While Madrid’s envoy voiced his government’s frustration with the response from some member states, others rejected suggestions that they had failed to show solidarity over the sudden influx of arrivals.A number of member states said they were ready to help and reflected on their own experience: Poland and Lithuania referred to the instrumentalisation of people on the move by the Belarusian dictatorship, while Italy and Greece spoke of their dealings with sudden arrivals of large numbers of people. But despite the warm words, many governments remain critical of Spain’s plan to regularise 500,000 undocumented migrants, which has triggered nearly 1.2m applications.One EU diplomat said: