One third of rivers across Europe breached the ‘high’ flood threshold last year, climate scientists have calculated, while 16 per cent swept past the ‘severe’ mark. From Italy to Slovenia and Greece, swollen rivers took a deadly toll throughout 2023. The year ended with major river basins such as the Rhine and Danube at record or near-record levels. This hydrological volatility is one big impact of the climate crisis on Europe, captured in extensive detail in the new State of the Climate report from the EU’s climate agency Copernicus and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). “In 2023, E…