A severe and unprecedented heatwave is currently gripping Central and Southern Europe, shattering long-standing temperature records and placing immense strain on infrastructure, public health, and energy systems. Slovakia recorded its highest-ever temperature on Thursday, reaching 42.2 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) in the village of Dolne Plachtince, according to the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute. The extreme heat has been compounded by a historic drought, with water levels in the Danube River—Europe’s second-longest—falling to record lows. This drop has directly impacted energy generation, forcing Slovakia’s only nuclear power plant to operate at just 80 percent capacity due to insufficient cooling water.
The cascading effects of the heatwave are being felt across neighboring nations. Hungary is confronting similar challenges, recording its warmest overnight temperature ever in Budapest on Wednesday, where the mercury did not drop below 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 degrees Fahrenheit). The country’s sole nuclear power plant, which typically supplies roughly half of Hungary’s electricity, has been forced to reduce its output to a mere 10 percent capacity as a result of the Danube’s critically low water levels. Austria is also sweltering under the extreme conditions, with its national weather agency reporting an all-time high of 41.2 degrees Celsius (106.2 degrees Fahrenheit) in the village of Bad Deutsch-Altenburg on Wednesday, near the Slovak border.
The situation has escalated into a multi-faceted crisis, extending beyond energy disruptions. In Italy, authorities have placed all 27 major cities on the highest heat alert for the first time this year, with officials advising the public to avoid direct sunlight between 11 am and 6 pm. Tragically, at least four people, including a 19-year-old tomato picker, are believed to have died in the country due to the heat. Meanwhile, wildfires are raging across the Balkans, forcing evacuations in Serbia near the settlements of Cardak and Sumarak, and posing significant challenges for firefighters in Montenegro. In Germany, the worsening drought has forced numerous companies to switch from shipping cargo on the Rhine and Danube rivers to road transport, leading to supply chain disruptions and rising prices as fewer goods are moved.
While parts of Europe battle the immediate crisis, the UK is bracing for its own intense heat spike next week, with temperatures expected to reach as high as 36 degrees Celsius (97 degrees Fahrenheit) in southeast England. The country is in the midst of a severe drought, with more than half of England and all of Wales officially in drought status after seven consecutive weeks of minimal rainfall. Scientists underscore that this pattern of extreme summer heat is becoming increasingly normal as the global climate warms, noting that Europe is warming at twice the global average rate. The current heatwaves have resulted in thousands of excess deaths across the continent this summer, with experts warning that Europe’s infrastructure—from transport to energy grids—was not designed to withstand such prolonged and intense conditions.
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