Burden for citizens

Southeast Europe had its hottest summer ever

Acropolis in Greece

(Bild: AFP)

According to a preliminary assessment, south-eastern Europe experienced the hottest summer since records began. Between June and August, there were 66 days of "severe heat stress", according to the EU climate change service Copernicus.

Southeast Europe includes countries such as Albania, Greece and Bulgaria. So far, they have had an average of 29 days with severe heat stress in summer. This time, record temperatures were recorded in these areas, and this was also the case in Fennoscandia. This peninsula includes Scandinavia, Finland and the Kola Peninsula, which belongs to Russia.

"The extreme temperatures in regions such as south-eastern Europe are having an impact on the well-being of Europeans, with citizens in this region experiencing more heat stress than ever before," said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus.

Where it was cooler
In north-western Europe (e.g. the Netherlands, Ireland), on the other hand, average temperatures from June to August were close to or even below average. 

In terms of precipitation, there was also a sharp contrast between individual regions in Europe. Most of the continent, especially the south-east, recorded a below-average number of wet days. In other regions, such as the north of the UK and the Baltic states, there were up to 20 more rainy days than average.

It was comparatively cooler in summer in Ireland, for example.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/Hugh)

Low vs. high water levels
Differences in water levels were also recorded in the summer. 35 percent of European rivers had very low water levels, including some in south-eastern Europe. Rivers in large parts of Central Europe, on the other hand, had exceptionally high water levels.

The Mediterranean Sea reached a record level according to the preliminary results. The average water surface temperature across the entire basin was 28.45 degrees Celsius on August 30.