Berlin [Germany], June 28: A record-breaking heatwave sweeping across Western Europe has been linked to dozens of deaths, with temperatures topping 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) pushing east into Germany and Poland.
Germany recorded a new national high of 41.5C (106.7F) on Saturday, provisional data from the national weather service (DWD) showed. The reading was recorded at the Drewitz station in eastern Germany, according to a DWD spokesperson, breaking the previous record of 41.3C (106.3F) set just a day earlier in Saarbrucken in the southwest.
The service issued extreme heat warnings for nearly all of Germany on Saturday as authorities urged people to save water. The Czech Republic and Denmark also recorded their highest-ever temperatures this weekend. In the Czech Republic, a reading of 40.6C (105F) recorded at a weather station in Doksany, north of Prague, beat a previous record of 40.4C (104.7F), set in 2012 in Dobrichovice, southwest of Prague, the national meteorological service said.
Denmark recorded its hottest day on record at 37C (98.6F) on Saturday, the Danish Meteorological Institute said, measured at Odum, north of Aarhus. The previous record temperature in the Scandinavian country was 36.4C (97.5F), recorded in August 1975, according to DMI.
The United Kingdom, France, Italy and Switzerland have all recorded record June temperatures.
The UK broke the record for a June temperature for the third day in a row on Friday, the Met Office weather agency said, as a heatwave affected schools and hospitals and drove down business. A provisional temperature of 37.3C (99.1F) was recorded in Santon Downham, in Suffolk, southeast England, according to the Met Office, breaking the previous high of 36.9C (98.4F) set earlier in the day.
Before this week, the UK's 1976 record temperature for June of 35.6C (96F) "had stood for 50 years, but - provisionally - it has been exceeded on three consecutive days this week," said Met Office climate spokesman Grahame Madge.
France has seen the heaviest toll, with deaths reported among both the young and elderly, while the extreme heat has disrupted rail travel, power generation and outdoor events across the region.
Italy's Ministry of Health issued a red alert for the heatwave in 18 Italian cities, including Milan, Rome, Turin, Venice, Genoa, Florence and Bologna, for Saturday and Sunday, with temperatures expected to climb as high as 39C (102F) in some areas.
Source: Qatar Tribune