Temperature Records Fall as Extreme Heat Hits Eastern Europe

Police water canon sprays tourists at the Brandenburg Gate during a heat wave in Berlin, on June 27. Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg Photo by Krisztian Bocsi /Bloomberg

Article content

(Bloomberg) — The deadly heat wave that’s set temperature records across western Europe for more than a week has shifted east to scorch Hungary, Romania and the Balkans. 

Article content

Budapest is expected to top 40C (104F) on Tuesday, according to models from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. Belgrade and Bucharest will reach 38C and 37C, respectively, on Monday. 

Article content

Article content

Article content

Red warnings for extreme heat have been issued in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Slovakia. Similar alerts are still in place for parts of southern and western Switzerland. 

Article content

Article content

The intense and unusually early heat event underscores how climate change is transforming summers in the world’s fastest-warming continent. The heat wave was fueled by a high-pressure heat dome and atmospheric shifts linked to a developing El Niño.

Article content

Germany broke its temperature record for a third consecutive day on Sunday, with preliminary DWD data showing a high of 41.7C in Coschen, Brandenburg. Transport services were disrupted in several cities after tram tracks buckled in the intense heat. 

Article content

New all-time highs were also set in Hungary and the Czech Republic on Sunday, with 40.7C recorded in Budapest and 41.9C in Doksany, according to government forecasters.

Article content

Hungary’s MVM Paksi Paksi Atomeromu Zrt curbed generation at its Paks nuclear plant over the weekend due to a warming river Danube, which is used to cool the country’s only reactor site. The government granted the facility a waiver from environmental rules over the next two days to safeguard energy supplies.

Article content

Article content

Average Hungarian day-ahead power prices for Monday climbed to €222.73 per megawatt-hour, almost 80% higher than a week earlier, according to the HUPX power exchange.

Article content

Prime Minister Peter Magyar warned that the worst was yet to come and called on employers to facilitate remote work or shortened hours. “Postpone any work scheduled to be done outside on Monday or Tuesday,” he said in a social media post.

Article content

In Romania, the education ministry delayed maths and history exams for about 130,000 students until Wednesday, as temperatures nearing 40C raised health and safety concerns.

Article content

The most extreme heat has subsided in western Europe after breaking temperature records in France, where health authorities reported more than 1,000 excess deaths. In Spain, monitoring from the Institute of Health shows more than 800 additional deaths across the country.

Article content

Much of western Europe is forecast to see unseasonably warm temperatures for weeks. Weather models also show signs of high pressure returning in early July, which could bring another round of heat to the UK, France, Spain and Germany.

Article content

Power prices climbed as traders weighed the possibility of more extreme temperatures next week. French front-month power prices rose as much as 27% to €81.01 per megawatt-hour, the highest level since January, according to Epex Spot data. 

Article content

German front-month power prices gained as much as 9% on Monday, reaching their highest level since March.

Article content

—With assistance from Michal Kubala, Thomas Escritt, Laura Millan and Irina Vilcu.

Article content

(Updates with Hungary power plant waiver in seventh paragraph)

Article content