Europe was around seven per cent wetter than average in 2023 – during the world’s hottest year on record. Hot air retains more moisture, which increases precipitation and can cause widespread flooding. One third of rivers across Europe breached a ‘high’ flood threshold last year, according to the EU climate agency’s latest report. In some areas, fuller rivers strengthened the hand of one renewable: hydropower. Potential for run-of-river hydropower generation was above average across much of Europe for the year as a whole, Copernicus says. With this form of hydropower, a portion of the river is…