Austria and neighboring Slovakia yesterday registered new historical temperature records, surpassing 41°C, amid a scorching heat wave sweeping Central Europe.
A high of 41.2°C was recorded in Bad Deutsch-Altenburg, in eastern Austria, the national meteorological agency GeoSphere Austria announced in a statement, surpassing the previous record of 41°C set the day before in the capital, Vienna.
In Slovakia, a temperature of 41.4°C was measured in Kamenica nad Hronom, a village in the southwestern part of the country, beating the previous record of 41.3°C, set at the same location in June, announced the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMU) in a statement.
These records occurred in the context of exceptional heat and low rainfall in Central Europe.
According to scientists, climate change caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases is increasing the frequency and intensity of these extreme weather phenomena.
Austria has already logged an exceptionally hot and dry July, marked by widespread drought.
“The fan is saving us, it’s our lifeline,” said Christina, a 20-year-old ice cream seller who chose not to reveal her surname, in statements to the French news agency AFP on Tuesday night in Vienna.
According to Christina, the capital’s shopping streets are deserted and sales only improve toward the end of the day, as the temperatures drop.
