The Dutch government announced today that there is a nationwide water shortage caused by the hot and dry summer, which has also caused a record drought in most of the continent.

The authorities formed a team to prepare measures for the management of available water resources, reported AP, quoted by BTA.

The country's authorities also asked citizens to get involved in saving water.

"Water shortages are already having a negative effect, particularly on shipping and agriculture," said Infrastructure and Water Management Minister Mark Harbers.

He urged people to think carefully about whether they should wash their car or fill up their inflatable pool.

"The Netherlands is a country with a lot of water, but water here is also valuable," Harbers added.

Very little rain has fallen in the country over the summer, and drought conditions in the north and east of Europe also mean that less water is reaching the country via rivers.

The government said drinking water supplies were not threatened and that no new measures were needed yet, but that could change in the coming weeks.

Authorities in some parts of the country have already imposed restrictions on farmers irrigating crops, and several river ferries have been suspended due to low water levels.

Dry conditions are also hampering cargo barges that ply rivers across the country.

A sharp rise in temperatures last month forced authorities in Amsterdam to water-cool many of the city's drawbridges to reduce steel expansion from the elevated temperatures and prevent blockages.

The Netherlands is another country in Europe that feels the effects of drought and lack of rainfall.

Last month, the European Commission warned that due to intensifying climate change, the continent faces one of its worst years in terms of natural disasters such as drought and forest fires.

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