Heat Wave Smashes Records Across Switzerland, Denmark, Czech Republic, and Germany

Temperatures soared to record highs from Switzerland to the Czech Republic and Denmark on Saturday as a heat wave moved from western European countries to central and eastern parts of the continent.

“Temperatures hit record highs from Switzerland to the Czech Republic and Denmark on Saturday, as a h that baked western European countries this week moves to central and eastern parts of the continent”

CBS News

Denmark’s Meteorological Institute reported a record 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit in Ødum north of Aarhus, the warmest day since records there began in 1874.

CBS News

In Switzerland, a record 101.8 degrees was set in the city of Basel, while the Czech Republic saw its hottest day on record with 105 degrees in the northern town of Doksany.

Germany’s Autobahn was overwhelmed as temperatures were expected to hit 104 degrees, and in two places outside Berlin the concrete of the A2 burst due to the high temperatures and the highway had to be closed.

In France, the Paris public hospital authority said it activated its emergency response plan across all 38 hospitals to deal with a continuous increase in activity.

Deutsche Bahn and other rail companies advised against all nonessential train travel this weekend, and Deutsche Bahn said, "Germany's transportation infrastructure is being severely affected by the record-breaking heat this weekend."

In the western German city of Dormagen, dozens of residents of a nursing home were evacuated for medical care due to dangerous heat conditions, and the local fire department reported that temperatures inside the home had reached 95 degrees Fahrenheit.

Euronews

A resident at the home died overnight, but it was not yet clear whether the heat was the cause, a city spokesperson told German news agency dpa.

In France, Paris and 36 other regions remained in the extreme-heat red zone on Saturday, down from a peak on Thursday of 72 regions under such warnings, while the AP-HP authority said Friday its emergency departments treated nearly 3,000 patients in the past 24 hours.

In the U.K., police said the bodies of a 22-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy were recovered from a lake and a river, and the deaths brought the total number of U.K. heat-related fatalities this week to four.

Forecasters said the heat may still rise in the Czech Republic after Doksany recorded 105 degrees, while Euronews reported that 40°C temperatures are forecast to hit typically colder EU countries in the coming days.

“BERLIN (AP) — Temperatures soared to record highs from Switzerland to the Czech Republic and Denmark on Saturday, as a heat wave that baked western European countries this week moved to central and eastern parts of the continent”

HuffPost

Euronews warned that experts see hospitals and schools under strain, and it said hundreds of schools have been closed due to concerns that pupils will not be safe in sweltering buildings.

In Italy’s capital, which remains under a red heat alert, tourists tried to cool off seeking shade near buildings and dunking their heads under public fountains, as street vendors sold bottled water, hats and sun umbrellas.

The New Scientist report said the heatwave is the hottest and most humid ever recorded in Europe and that it is likely to cause thousands of deaths, citing a World Weather Attribution study.

New Scientist quoted Theodore Keeping at Imperial College London saying, "This event would not have been possible in June without climate change," and it quoted Friederike Otto saying, "people who are particularly vulnerable who are most likely to lose their lives."