European Heatwave

Belgium's Royal Meteorological Institute has issued a yellow heat warning across the country through Thursday, with temperatures expected to reach 31C this weekend. The UK Health Security Agency has activated yellow heat health alerts for several regions from Saturday morning through Tuesday evening, while the Met Office warns temperatures could hit 36C in parts of East Anglia and south-east England by Thursday.

The heatwave follows a devastating period for Britain, where July was the driest since records began in 1836 and two earlier heatwaves in May and June caused more than 2,800 excess deaths. Germany's Deutscher Wetterdienst forecasts temperatures reaching 36C along the Rhine on Sunday, with widespread 35C expected in the southwest by Wednesday.

Belgian coastal areas will see slightly cooler conditions, with maxima around 26-27C at the coast compared to 29-31C inland, before a temporary cooling trend arrives Tuesday.

Temperatures across southwestern Germany and Poland are peaking this weekend before storms and a broader weather pattern change are expected to end the extended summer spell by mid-August.

In Baden-Württemberg, temperatures will reach up to 33 degrees Celsius along the Rhine on Saturday and climb to 36 degrees on Sunday, with showers and thunderstorms moving through on Monday. In Poland, a strong heatwave is ending as storms sweep across the country, bringing a temporary cool-down before heat briefly returns around the weekend.

Meteorologist Jan Schenk forecasts that Germany's summer pattern will shift markedly from around August 15, with low-pressure systems bringing increased rainfall and temperatures dropping below 25 degrees in many areas. Polish forecasts similarly indicate that temperatures in the second half of August will settle near long-term averages, with daily highs of 20–25 degrees. Schenk notes September could bring drier conditions to Germany.

The Robert Koch Institute has sharply revised upward its estimate of heat-related deaths during a late-June heatwave, now placing the toll at roughly 9,600 — nearly doubling a prior figure of 5,000 after the week's full mortality data became available.

The deaths between June 22 and 28 alone eclipsed Germany's previous annual record of about 9,000 heat-related fatalities set in 2018, bringing the cumulative 2026 toll to an estimated 11,900. More than 6,000 victims were aged 85 or older, the institute said, while overall excess mortality has reached an estimated 14,600.

The week coincided with record-breaking heat, including the warmest night on record and 46 stations exceeding 40 degrees Celsius on June 27, when a national high of 41.8 degrees was logged in Saxony-Anhalt.

Slovakia recorded a new all-time high of 41.4 degrees Celsius in Kamenica nad Hronom on Wednesday, surpassing the previous mark set in the same village on June 30. Austria also broke its national record for a second consecutive day, with Bad Deutsch-Altenburg reaching 41.2 degrees, after Vienna set a capital-city record of 40.8 degrees on Tuesday. Bratislava hit 40.6 degrees, a new local high, after the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute issued maximum alerts and rail speeds were capped at 50 km/h on some routes.

The heatwave's toll extended across the continent. Poland's Institute of Meteorology and Water Management raised its highest heat alarm for Warsaw and other areas, with southwestern Poland nearing 40 degrees. In South Korea, at least 16 people died from extreme heat and Seoul declared its highest alert level.

Drought conditions intensified: three municipalities in southern Moravia ran dry, low Danube levels threatened Hungary's Paks nuclear plant, and Austria's Pasterze glacier risks splitting in two. France logged its hottest July on record and England and Wales their driest.