A blistering heatwave sweeping across central and eastern Europe shattered national temperature records this week, with Slovakia reaching 42 degrees Celsius and Austria hitting an all-time high of 41.2C, authorities said on Thursday.
GeoSphere Austria confirmed the record was set on Wednesday in the village of Bad Deutsch-Altenburg near the Slovak border, surpassing the country’s previous all-time high. Slovakia’s hydrometeorological agency reported the new national record of 42C in Dolne Plachtince on the same day, as the heat dome trapped scorching air masses across the Pannonian Basin and surrounding lowlands.
Italy placed all 27 cities on its national heat surveillance system under red alert simultaneously for the first time this year, from Trieste in the northeast to Palermo in Sicily. The health ministry warned of risks to the entire population, not just vulnerable groups, as temperatures in parts of the country approached 40C. Rome’s Colosseum and Pantheon extended their evening opening hours and installed cooling mist fans at entrances.
The extreme heat disrupted energy systems across the continent. In Poland, authorities were forced to shut down the Kozienice and Polaniec power plants as cooling water temperatures exceeded operational limits. Hungary temporarily powered down its only nuclear power plant on July 29 due to drought conditions that reduced water levels in the Danube, and increased electricity imports from neighbours including Ukraine to compensate.
Austria is also contending with severe drought. Rainfall from January through June was 27 percent below the long-term average nationwide, with some eastern regions receiving only half their normal precipitation. The prolonged dry conditions have dried rivers and reduced water availability across central Europe, compounding the impact of the heat.
Wildfires intensified across southern Europe as the heatwave persisted. Firefighters in Serbia struggled to contain multiple blazes in pine forests west of Belgrade and near the central town of Kraljevo. France reported wildfires stretching from its southern regions into the Balkans, while Croatian tourists in Dubrovnik sought shelter from temperatures soaring along the Adriatic coast.
This marks the fourth major heatwave to hit Europe since May. Scientists and officials warn that such events are becoming more frequent and intense as the climate warms. The heat has exposed vulnerabilities in public health systems, power generation, transportation networks and tourism infrastructure across the continent.
Sources: Euronews, The Guardian
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