Hungary has had its worst drought in 126 years, according to data from its national weather service, HungaroMet, reported by Euronews on Thursday. The country also had its driest summer since 1901 and its second-hottest.

The numbers are stark. Summer rain across Hungary averaged 74.1 millimeters, about 36% of normal. The average summer temperature was 2.59 degrees Celsius above the long-term norm. In April, rain was just 10% of the usual amount. By the end of August, severe farm drought covered half the country.

The dry spell drained rivers too. The Danube dropped to record lows, Reuters reported. That disrupted cargo barges and the Paks nuclear plant, which uses river water for cooling. Hungary's central bank says drought damage to farms will cut the country's economic growth by 0.4 percentage points this year. For the first time, the area of corn harvested fell below the area planted with sunflowers, a farm researcher told Reuters.

Now hundreds of volunteers are trying to hold on to water. Under a grassroots group called the Water Guardians Movement, they pile logs into terraces on bare hillsides and build small "beaver dams" across creeks. The goal is to slow rain so it soaks into the ground. "The wells (on my farm) have practically run dry," forest engineer Bence Bardos told Reuters.

This marks a big change. For decades, Hungary drained wetlands and straightened rivers to move water away from fields. In August, the government announced a plan that favors natural ways to keep water in the land, and even flooding some farmland on purpose.

The hole is deep. Groundwater sits an estimated 1.4 to 1.7 meters below the ideal level, Euronews reported, and a wet autumn alone will not fix it.

What we know: HungaroMet data show the worst drought in 126 years, and volunteers are building water-holding dams.
What we don't: When steady rain will return, and how much the small dams will refill groundwater.