Yellow warning: water levels rising rapidly in rivers across western and central Latvia
Following heavy rainfall, water levels are rising sharply in rivers in western and central Latvia, with several floodplains already underwater. Latvia's environmental agency LVĢMC warns the rise will continue and approach yellow-warning thresholds in the Venta and Bārta basins.
Latvia's Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre (LVĢMC) has warned of rapidly rising water levels in rivers across several basins after recent days of intense rainfall. The heaviest downpours fell over river basins in western Latvia, including their upper reaches in Lithuania.
Water levels have risen especially fast in the Bārta, Venta and their tributary rivers, in some places by more than two metres within 24 hours. Other rivers in the Kurzeme region have also seen sharp rises, and floodplains and low-lying riverbank areas across the region are now underwater.
A rapid rise has also been recorded in central Latvia, particularly in the left-bank tributaries of the Lielupe. Rivers in eastern Latvia, by contrast, are rising more slowly.
Situation expected to worsen
LVĢMC says rainfall will continue in the near term, though with less intensity than before. Despite this, river levels are expected to keep rising. The rise could accelerate further along the middle and lower reaches of the Venta and Bārta as water flows in from tributaries and upstream areas.
The centre warns that water levels in Kurzeme's rivers will soon approach or exceed the yellow warning threshold, and it advises residents near flood-prone areas to monitor the situation closely.
