An extraordinary heatwave has gripped central and northern Europe, leaving millions sweltering under record-breaking temperatures. The unprecedented early summer heat has already claimed hundreds of lives, with experts warning of 'major impacts' on health and ecosystems as a persistent high-pressure system continues to dominate the continent.
Germany's all-time high temperature of 41.5C was provisionally recorded in Möckern-Drewitz, Saxony-Anhalt, surpassing the 41.3C reached just a day earlier in Saarbrucken, near the French border. Katrin Goering-Eckardt, a German politician, described the situation as a 'health crisis', with police deploying water cannons to spray mist onto people seeking relief.
The Czech Republic also suffered its highest-ever temperature on Saturday, reaching 40.8C at Doksany, north of Prague, while Denmark provisionally recorded 37C in Odum, near Aarhus, exceeding the country's previous all-time record set in 1976. Switzerland has experienced its hottest June day for three consecutive days, with temperatures hitting 39C in Basel.
Spain's MoMo monitoring system has recorded 327 heat-related deaths between Sunday and Thursday, while France reports at least 55 drowning deaths, two-thirds of which have occurred in unsupervised swimming areas. The World Meteorological Organization has issued a stark warning that the heatwave will have far-reaching consequences for health and ecosystems.
Scientists attribute this extreme heat to a slow-moving 'heat dome', where sinking air compresses and warms beneath a largely cloud-free high-pressure system, exacerbated by strong sunshine. A report from the World Weather Attribution group confirms that climate change is to blame for this unprecedented early summer heatwave, which would have been virtually impossible 50 years ago.
Despite cooler conditions expected in the west of the continent later in the week, temperatures above 40C remain possible in some areas over the weekend and into Monday. Europe's status as the fastest-warming continent globally is a stark reminder of its vulnerability to climate change, with factors including Arctic warming and jet stream shifts driving this trend.