Heat records are broken in Germany, Denmark and the Czech Republic in a wave that devastates Europe
The European continent experienced another period of intense heat, with successive temperature records recorded in several nations this Saturday.
Germany set a new heat record for the second day in a row, with thermometers reaching a provisional temperature of 41.5°C.
This Saturday, Denmark and the Czech Republic also recorded historic peaks, while the atypical heat wave for the beginning of summer advanced to regions in the north and east of the continent, impacting a greater number of inhabitants.
Around 150 million individuals in Europe are exposed to temperatures exceeding 35°C. The World Meteorological Organization has issued a warning, indicating that this climate phenomenon will cause “significant impacts” on both human health and ecosystems.
Heat waves, which started in the Iberian Peninsula, were linked to the deaths of hundreds of people over the last week.
The German Meteorological Service reported that the preliminary mark of 41.5°C in the country was recorded in Möckern-Drewitz, located in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the eastern portion of the territory.
This reading surpassed the previous mark of 41.3°C, which had been set just a day earlier in Saarbrücken, a city close to the French border.
“This is not a pleasant summer. It is a health crisis,” said Katrin Goering-Eckardt, a German politician and former leader of the Green Party, via Channel X.
🇩🇪 Histórica ola de calor derrite Alemania: el termómetro rompe récords alcanzando los 41.5 °C.
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Measures to alleviate the heat in Berlin
In the German capital, police used two water cannons to disperse mist over the population, seeking to provide some freshness.
The water cannon initiative provided considerable relief to many residents in Berlin.
New temperature peaks in the Czech Republic and Denmark
The Czech Republic also reached its all-time high temperature this Saturday, with the Doksany meteorological station, north of Prague, recording 40.8°C, as released by the national meteorological service (CHMI).
Danish meteorologists announced that a provisional value of 37°C was recorded in Odum, near Aarhus. This number exceeds the previous record of 36.4°C, recorded in 1976.
Switzerland breaks record and the cause of the “heat dome”
Switzerland, in turn, broke its own maximum temperature record for the month of June for the third consecutive day, with thermometers in Basel, in the north, reaching 39°C this Saturday.
BBC Chief Meteorologist Ben Rich explained that “this exceptional heatwave was caused by a persistent area of slowly moving high pressure known as a ‘heat dome’.”
He detailed that “under the high pressure system, the descending air is compressed and heated, continually raising temperatures each day.”
“The sky remained mostly cloudless, which allowed the intense sun to heat the atmosphere even more”, he added.
Health impacts and expert warnings
In France, the number of drowning deaths has risen to at least 55 since the start of the heat wave. It is estimated that two-thirds of these fatalities occurred in unsupervised bathing facilities.
In Spain, the MoMo monitoring system counted 327 deaths potentially linked to heat between last Sunday and Thursday.
A crucial point is that Europe emerges as the continent with the fastest warming rate globally. This is due to a combination of factors, notably the rapid melting of Arctic ice and changes in jet stream patterns, intensifying the frequency and severity of extreme events like the current one.
Experts from World Weather Attribution declare that a heat wave of this intensity and occurring so early in the summer would, in fact, be almost unfeasible five decades ago.
They claim, without hesitation, that climate change is “unequivocally” to blame.
BBC meteorologist Ben Rich predicts that extreme heat will persist over the weekend and last until next Monday, with the possibility of temperatures exceeding 40°C in some regions.
However, the expert adds that milder weather conditions, coming from the west of the continent, will gradually advance towards the east, promising some relief by the end of the week.