Europe hit by more record-breaking heat; new all-time highs in Germany, Denmark, Czech Republic
An unprecedented early summer heatwave shattered more temperature records across Europe on Saturday, with Germany, Denmark, and the Czech Republic setting new national highs, as the heatwave is linked to hundreds of deaths.
Europe endured another day of extreme heat on Saturday, with temperature records falling across the continent. Germany recorded a new all-time high of 41.5°C in Möckern-Drewitz, Saxony-Anhalt, according to preliminary data from the German Meteorological Service. This surpassed the record of 41.3°C set just a day earlier in Saarbrücken.
Denmark and the Czech Republic also set new national records. Denmark's provisional temperature of 37°C in Ødum, near Aarhus, exceeded the previous high of 36.4°C set in 1976. The Czech Republic recorded 40.8°C at a station in Doksany, north of Prague, the highest ever in the country, according to the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute.
Switzerland broke its June temperature record for the third consecutive day, reaching 39°C in Basel.
An estimated 150 million people in Europe are now experiencing temperatures above 35°C. The World Meteorological Organization has warned of "major impacts" on health and ecosystems.
The heatwave, which began in the Iberian Peninsula, has been linked to hundreds of deaths over the past week. In France, at least 55 people have drowned since the heatwave began, with about two-thirds swimming in unsupervised areas. Spain's MoMo monitoring system recorded 327 heat-related deaths between Sunday and Thursday.
German politician Katrin Göring-Eckardt, former leader of the Green Party, called the heat a health crisis on social media platform X. In Berlin, police deployed two water cannons to cool people with mist.
According to BBC lead weather presenter Ben Rich, the exceptional heat is caused by a slow-moving high-pressure system known as a "heat dome." Under the high pressure, sinking air compresses and warms, raising temperatures daily, while cloudless skies allow strong sunshine to further heat the air.
Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent due to factors including rapid Arctic warming and changes in the jet stream. Scientists from World Weather Attribution say a heatwave of this magnitude so early in summer would have been virtually impossible 50 years ago, clearly blaming climate change.
Extreme heat will continue through the weekend and into Monday, with temperatures above 40°C possible in some places. However, cooler conditions developing in the west are expected to sweep eastward later in the week, bringing relief.
