Record heat grips eastern Europe as Ukraine orders power cuts
Czechia and Slovakia set national temperature records as a heatwave strains power systems, fuels wildfire fears and raises health alarms across Europe.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
2 min read
Eastern Europe is facing record-breaking heat after a severe European heatwave shifted east, pushing Czechia and Slovakia to their highest temperatures on record. The extreme weather is also straining infrastructure, with Ukraine ordering emergency power cuts as demand rises in the heat.
Slovakia recorded 41 degrees Celsius, or 105.8 Fahrenheit, on Monday in Turna nad Bodvou, southwest of Kosice, the country’s second-largest city. In Czechia, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute said Doksany, in the northwest, reached 41.9C, or 107.42F, on Sunday evening.
The Czech reading surpassed the country’s previous record of 40.4C, set in 2021. The institute said the size of the increase was unprecedented and described the duration of the heatwave as exceptional.
Heat spreads across central and eastern Europe
Hungary came close to its all-time high on Monday, with temperatures reaching 41.8C in the centre of the country. The national record there is 41.9C, set in July 2007.
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar warned on Monday that the hardest two days of the heatwave were still ahead. Public sector employees were told to work remotely, and private employers were encouraged to do the same.
At least 130 million people in central and Eastern Europe were exposed to temperatures above 35C on Monday, the AFP news agency reported. Italy placed 22 cities under red heat warnings, while several regions in Croatia were also under red alerts.
The Balkans remained under extreme heat, and wildfires were reported in Croatia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The heat has followed a wave that began in Western Europe last week and has since moved across the continent.
Health risks and power strain
More than 1,300 excess deaths have been recorded since June 21, according to the World Health Organization. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Sunday that Europe is warming at twice the global average and warned that buildings across the region were not designed for such temperatures.
In Ukraine, authorities imposed emergency power outages in response to the heat. Forecasts there called for temperatures between 35C and 38C, increasing pressure on the electricity system.
Temperatures are easing in parts of Western Europe, but forecasters expect more heat later in the summer. Italian Air Force meteorologist Daniele Mocio has said another surge of hot weather is expected from July 5 in France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and parts of the United Kingdom.
The World Weather Attribution group said the current heatwave is notable because June is not usually the hottest month in Western Europe. The group said this summer shows that, at 1.4C of global warming, extreme heat is already testing societies’ ability to cope.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.