A major city in the Middle East is teetering on the brink of a major water crisis that could force authorities to ration water, and potentially evacuate some neighbourhoods, if rainfall fails to arrive in the coming weeks. Key reservoirs supplying the urban area have dropped to alarmingly low levels, raising fears for millions of residents.

The city, Tehran, the capital of Iran, is home to over 10 million people. Its main reservoirs, including the Karaj Dam, are reportedly at just 8% capacity, with drought conditions now entering their sixth consecutive year. Officials have warned that without significant precipitation by December, even basic water supplies could be severely disrupted.

“If it doesn’t rain this month, we will have no water at all,” a local official said. Experts highlight that the crisis is driven by a combination of rapid urban growth, over-extraction of aquifers, and climate-driven heat and drought. The situation has become a near-worst-case water emergency, prompting urgent calls for contingency measures.

Growing Social and Economic Risks

Households and Industry Under Pressure

The impact of prolonged water shortages extends far beyond taps running dry. In Tehran, some neighbourhoods are already experiencing intermittent water supply, with pressure falling at certain times of day. Agriculture and industrial sectors, which rely heavily on water, are also facing severe disruption.

Extended shortages threaten urban livelihoods, food production, and sanitation, raising concerns that prolonged scarcity could become a social and economic crisis. Officials warn that if reservoirs reach critical levels, mandatory evacuation of the most affected districts could become necessary, though details on such operations remain unclear.

Why Cities Are at Risk

Climate, Infrastructure, and Rising Demand

Tehran’s looming water crisis, and warnings across Europe, stem from a combination of prolonged drought, hotter summers, and reduced rainfall, compounded by rapid population growth and increased urban water demand. Aging infrastructure, including reservoirs, dams, and aquifers, struggles to keep pace with rising consumption, leaving cities vulnerable when dry periods extend beyond normal patterns.

Southern Europe and Mediterranean regions, including Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Malta, and Greece, face similar pressures. Even typically wet cities such as London are flagged for future water stress, highlighting that climate and demand challenges are now a global urban concern.

What Happens if Water Runs Out

Rationing, Cuts, and Broader Impacts

When water supplies reach critical lows, authorities may implement rationing or targeted shutoffs, affecting households, industry, and agriculture. In Tehran, some neighbourhoods already experience intermittent supply, and officials warn that evacuation of the hardest-hit districts could become necessary if reservoirs remain near empty.

The social and economic consequences extend beyond immediate shortages. Disrupted water access threatens sanitation, food production, and urban livelihoods, showing that water security is not only an environmental issue but a critical urban and economic concern.

Key Points

• Tehran faces a historic water crisis, with reservoirs at just 8% capacity, prompting warnings of rationing and possible evacuation.
• Climate change, prolonged drought, urban population growth, and over‑extraction of aquifers are driving crises in Tehran and beyond.
• Southern Europe and Mediterranean regions, including Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Malta, and Greece, are experiencing growing water stress.
• UK, despite its rainy reputation, is at risk of severe water shortages within decades if preventative action is not taken.
• Aging infrastructure, rising demand, and irregular rainfall highlight the urgent need for sustainable water management.

Water Security Is Urban Security

Tehran’s crisis illustrates the urgent need for resilient water systems. European and UK authorities must invest in infrastructure, enforce sustainable consumption, and adopt climate-proof water management strategies. Otherwise, more cities may confront “Day Zero” scenarios once thought impossible.

The situation also highlights the importance of long-term planning, including rainfall capture, wastewater reuse, aquifer management, and public awareness campaigns. Without decisive action, even major cities with historically abundant water may face unprecedented shortages in the decades ahead.

Frank O. Gehry, the Canadian-American architect whose audacious, sculptural designs liberated modern architecture and whose Guggenheim Museum Bilbao revolutionised urban planning and firmly put the post-industrial city on the global map, died on Friday, December 5, at his home in Santa Monica. He was 96. The cause was a brief respiratory illness, confirmed by his firm.

Widely considered one of the most important designers since Frank Lloyd Wright, Gehry was the most prominent voice of Deconstructivism, a style characterised by fragmented forms, non-rectilinear shapes, and a rejection of traditional cool formalism. His buildings, clad in shimmering titanium and steel, blurred the lines between architecture and sculpture, challenging both critics and the public.

The ever lasting “Bilbao Effect”

Gehry’s most impactful creation, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, opened in 1997 on the banks of the Nervión River in Spain, single-handedly placing the once-shabby, post-industrial Basque city on the global cultural map and helping the city to regain the pride it needed to put an end to separatist terrorism. The curving, seemingly chaotic titanium-clad structure was an instant international sensation, drawing upward of 1 million visitors a year and generating massive economic and cultural revitalisation.

This transformative process, coined the “Bilbao Effect“, became a global blueprint for urban renewal driven by a single piece of landmark architecture. The success was so profound that in 1997, his peer, the eminent architect Philip Johnson, proclaimed the Bilbao museum “the greatest building of our time”.

A legacy of not only curves

Gehry’s vision extended far further than Bilbao. His other unmistakable works include the sweeping curves of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles (2003), the distinctive Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris (2014), and the bold, raw aesthetic of his own Gehry Residence in Santa Monica.

Essentially, Gehry’s practice pioneered the use of CATIA software, initially developed for the French aerospace industry, to translate his spontaneous physical models into precise, constructible blueprints. This innovation helped usher in the era of digital design in architecture. A winner of the 1989 Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest honour, Gehry received global recognition eight years before the Guggenheim was even completed, making him recognised as a revolutionary long before the titanium sheen of Bilbao captured the world’s imagination.

Frank Gehry, born Frank Owen Goldberg in 1929, leaves behind a legacy defined by risk-taking and an emotional, visceral power in his buildings that revived architectural spirit after decades of restraint. He will be remembered not just for the spectacle of his forms but for irrevocably changing the way buildings are designed and how cities utilise architecture to dream again.

A Romanian motorist launched his Mercedes into the air and flew over cars – yet miraculously got up, dusted himself off and walked away, without life-threatening injuries.

Extraordinary CCTV footage filmed on December 3 captures the moment the speeding vehicle rockets into a roundabout, clips the kerb and is catapulted high above traffic, flies over a bus and two cars, almost hits the cctv camera before smashing into a roadside pole just yards from a petrol station in the Northwestern city of Oradea.

What caused the flying car incident?

Police say the driver had suffered a diabetic episode behind the wheel, lost control and careered into the junction at high speed.  In the footage, the Mercedes briefly vanishes from frame before a deafening crash rings out as it ploughs into the metal post on a grass verge. Residents in nearby apartment blocks reported hearing the impact, according to local reports. The driver, who became trapped in the wreckage, was pulled free and taken to hospital with multiple fractures. Doctors later confirmed he had fainted at the wheel due to dangerously low blood sugar.

Investigators say the Mercedes driver had entered the roundabout the wrong way, hitting the central island at speed and launching into the air. The vehicle shot past a bus and vaulted over two cars waiting to pull out, before thundering down just metres from a petrol station, narrowly avoiding a devastating explosion.  Police have since suspended his licence for 90 days and issued a 1,600-lei (€300) fine, with inquiries ongoing.

Other famous roundabout launches

March 2023, Belgium: Professional footballer Sofian Kiyine in a Mercedes-AMG flew 44 metres through the roof of a sports hall after hitting the central island at nearly 200 km/h. He broke several bones but survived.

April 2020, Poland: A Suzuki Swift launched 64 metres over an embankment near Lodz, snapped a tree in half and landed in a cemetery. The 41-year-old driver luckily walked away with minor injuries.

September 2018, Swindon, UK: A silver Citroën van became airborne for almost 20 metres after overtaking and striking the curb, landing with a spectacular crash in a “Dukes of Hazzard”-style jump. All three occupants survived.

January 2024, Chatteris, UK: A car soared over the entire roundabout, spun mid-air and nose-dived onto the exit road; the driver climbed out unharmed and simply walked away.