Low river water levels on the River Elbe, due to the lack of rain, are currently hovering around 56cm at Dresden which is not a lot of water. This has led to the cancellation of most of the sailings of the paddle steamers both centred on Dresden and in Saxon Switzerland.

As of today (5th August) only Diesbar and Krippen – which are the smallest and have the shallowest drafts of all the paddle steamers – are scheduled to run the 90 minute “Sightseeing Cruises” from Dresden. All the rest of the fleet is tied up.

It is hoped that by Saturday 8th August river levels will be sufficient to restore the full service although that will depend on how the water level improves.