Record temperatures swept across parts of Europe on Saturday as an early summer heatwave pushed north and east, setting new national highs in Germany, Denmark and the Czech Republic while authorities warned of growing risks to public health.
Germany recorded a provisional all-time temperature of 41.5°C at the Möckern-Drewitz weather station in Saxony-Anhalt, according to the German Meteorological Service. The reading surpassed the previous national record of 41.3°C, which had been set only a day earlier near the French border.
Denmark also registered its highest temperature since records began in 1874. The Danish Meteorological Institute reported 37°C near Aarhus and Odense, exceeding the previous record of 36.4°C set in 1975.
The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute announced a new national record of 40.8°C at Doksany, north of Prague, breaking the previous mark of 40.4°C recorded in 2012. Forecasters said temperatures could climb above 41°C on Sunday.
Switzerland also continued its run of record-breaking weather, with Basel reaching 39°C, setting a new June temperature record for the third consecutive day.
The BBC reported that around 150 million people across Europe were experiencing temperatures above 35°C as the heatwave expanded beyond the Iberian Peninsula. The World Meteorological Organization warned the prolonged heat would have major consequences for public health and ecosystems.
The extreme conditions were caused by a persistent high-pressure system, known as a heat dome, which trapped hot air beneath largely cloud-free skies and allowed temperatures to rise steadily over several days.
Hundreds of deaths have been linked to the heatwave over the past week. Spain’s MoMo mortality monitoring system recorded 327 heat-related deaths between Sunday and Thursday.
In France, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said at least 74 people had drowned since 18 June during the period of extreme heat, according to AFP and French newspaper Le Parisien. Most incidents occurred in unsupervised lakes, rivers and ponds, although fatalities were also reported in private swimming pools.
In the United Kingdom, the heat has been followed by severe thunderstorms.
The BBC reported that dozens of flights were cancelled at Heathrow and Gatwick airports on Saturday because of thunderstorms, while more than 900 flights were delayed. Britain also set a new June temperature record on Friday when 37.3°C was recorded in Suffolk.
According to a joint report published earlier this year by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service and the World Meteorological Organization, Europe is warming faster than any other continent.
Researchers from World Weather Attribution said a heatwave of this intensity occurring so early in the summer would have been virtually impossible half a century ago without human-induced climate change.
Forecasters expect temperatures above 40°C to persist in parts of Europe into Monday before cooler Atlantic air gradually moves eastwards later in the week, bringing relief to many of the areas affected by the prolonged heat.
HT