Europe heatwave: Germany braced for 'well over 40C' as records fall

An intense heatwave is sweeping eastward across Europe, with forecasters warning parts of Germany could see temperatures “well over 40C”. The highest weather warnings are in place in France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Hungary, and scientists from the World Weather Attribution group found temperatures in several countries were 5C to 12C above the seasonal average.

The research group also found that in 45% of 854 European cities examined, heat records had been broken or were forecast to be broken, using the wet bulb globe temperature to estimate real-world heat stress. Germany provisionally recorded 41.3C near Saarbrücken, and the German Weather Service has issued high temperature warnings across all 16 states, most classified as “extreme heat”.

The heat is straining services across the continent: Spain reported more than 300 heat-related deaths in the past week, France has seen fatalities including drownings and deaths from heat stress, and the Netherlands issued a red alert with temperatures expected to reach 40C.

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