The prolonged hot, dry weather has dried up waterways across the continent (Picture: Reuters)

An unprecedented drought across Europe has revealed long-hidden treasures and hazards around the continent.  

Weeks of scorching weather and a lack of rain has seen water levels in rivers and lakes fall to levels few can remember.

That has exposed items long-submerged on the river bed, including a prehistoric stone circle dubbed the ‘Spanish Stonehenge’.

In Spain, suffering its worst drought in decades, archaeologists have been delighted by the find, which is usually covered by the waters of a dam.

Officially known as the Dolmen of Guadalperal, the stone circle currently sits fully exposed in a corner of the Valdecanas reservoir, in the central province of Caceres.

Authorities in the area, less than 200km west of Madrid, say the water level has dropped to 28% of capacity.

It was discovered in 1926 by German archaeologist Hugo Obermaier, but was flooded in 1963 in a rural development project under Francisco Franco’s dictatorship and has only been fully visible four times since.

The ‘Spanish Stonehenge’ was first discovered in 1926 (Picture: Reuters)