One of the most popular tourist attractions of Venice is facing up to an inability to operate on certain canals, with a drought forcing the city’s famous gondolas out of a number of waterways.

While the region is seen as an area prone to flooding, another year of severe drought has led to unusually low tides making it impossible for some of the city’s gondolas, water taxis and even ambulances to navigate some of the canals.

The problem can be traced to the Alps which have received less than half their normal amount for snowfall this winter, with water levels in the Po, Italy’s longest river, at just a third of their normal levels.

It was last July that a state of emergency was declared for areas surrounding the Po due to drought, with early indications for another troubling period as climate expert Massimiliano Pasqui explained.

“We are in a water deficit situation that has been building up since the winter of 2020-21,” said Pasqui. “We need to recover 500mm in the northwest regions; we need 50 days of rain.”

The drought has seen visitors to Lake Garda able to walk to the small island of San Biagio on the lake using an exposed pathway, but weather forecasts do predict snow in the Alps in coming days.