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EUROPE’S MOST SEVERE heatwave ever has broken temperature records in eastern parts of the continent and forced Ukraine to order power cuts to cope yesterday.
The extreme heat, which hit Western Europe last week, has set records in Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany as it moved east in recent days.
According to the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute, Slovakia registered a new record temperature of 41C in Turňa nad Bodvou in the southeast yesterday.
The mercury also reached 41.8 degrees in Aszód in central Hungary, just below the country’s absolute heat record of 41.9 degrees from 2007.
Speaking to reporters, Hungary’s Prime Minister Péter Magyar told reporters the government wanted state staff to work from home where possible.
He asked public services to reschedule outdoor work and requested that restaurants give out drinking water and air-conditioned public venues stay open.
The Balkans are braced to face temperatures of up to 40 degrees this week.
Authorities have warned of dangerous conditions in Croatia, with both Bosnia and Albania predicting temperatures of up to 40 degrees.
Firefighters spent days battling a fire in a landfill near the Bosnian city of Mostar, which poured acrid smoke into the surrounding area since last week.
Elsewhere, emergency crews were also working to control fires sparked over the weekend.
Kosovo’s weather bureau said temperatures were expected to peak at 38 degrees yestrday and advised vulnerable residents to stay indoors during the day.
Ukraine’s energy network, already under pressure from Russian attacks during the past four years of war, buckled again under the high temperatures.
Authorities enforced emergency power outages on Monday as the state Hydrometeorological Centre said the country would face “intense heat”.
They said there would be more power cuts today for industry and homes.
Temperatures of 35 to 38 degrees were forecast, though this is some way off the national record of 42C recorded in August 2010.
“The heat is also a serious test for equipment that has been operating under wartime conditions for more than four years and has withstood numerous attacks,” Sergii Kovalenko, CEO of the Yasno energy company said at the weekend.
He said that summer was the peak period for repairing the energy network, battered through the winter by repeat Russian attacks, meaning the grid was already “operating at the limit of its capabilities”.
According to the World Weather Attribution group of scientists, this heatwave is the most severe ever recorded in Europe and would have been “virtually impossible” this early in the summer without climate change.
More than 1,300 excess deaths were recorded in Europe since 21 June, according to the UN health agency, including several children who died in locked cars and youths who drowned as they sought relief in unsupervised swimming spots.
France reported at least 74 drowning deaths since 18 June and Poland said 17 drowned on Sunday alone.
With temperatures cooling in France, the national weather service has said it is already anticipating another heatwave in July.
Temperatures rose above 30 degrees in parts of the country on Thursday and Friday last week, which was due to a plume of hot air sweeping north from continental Europe.
However, Ireland’s weather is expected to be much cooler in the coming days.
Today will be mainly dry with clear spells and just a few lingering showers near the north coast, while top temperatures across the country will be 16 to 21 degrees.
Wednesday’s highest temperatures will be 16 to 19 degrees, while Thursday will be a bright day with sunny spells and some showers. Highest temperatures will range from 15 degrees in the northwest to 21 degrees in the southeast.
Friday will be largely dry with some hazy sunny spells in the southeast, with highs of 16 to 22 degrees and Saturday’s temperatures will be in the low 20s.
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