Hot and Getting Hotter

Heat Wave in Austria: Old June Record Broken

The sun is beating down relentlessly on Austria—heat records are falling like dominoes.(Bild: MaxSafaniuk - stock.adobe.com)

What is likely the hottest June weekend since records began got off to a sweltering start. New heat records were set in several regions as early as Friday night. On Saturday afternoon, the previous June record (38.6 degrees) was shattered. Even the 39-degree mark was surpassed.

“Both in Retz and at the Jubiläumswarte in Vienna, last night was the warmest on record, with a low of exactly 24.9 degrees,” Konstantin Brandes, a meteorologist at the Unwetterzentrale, told the “Krone.”

Several Stations Set New Records
New records for the warmest June night were also set at eight other stations: Bernstein (Burgenland) at 22.8 degrees, Brenner (Tyrol) at 17.1 degrees, Mönichkirchen (Lower Austria) at 21.1 degrees, Obergurgl (Tyrol) at 13.9 degrees, Nauders (Tyrol) at 16.5 degrees, Jauerling (Lower Austria) at 22.7 degrees, Rudolfshütte (Salzburg) at 13 degrees, and Preitenegg (Carinthia) at 18.1 degrees.

According to Brandes, a new record was already set on Thursday night. “Yesterday, with a temperature of 25.2 degrees, the Leiser Mountains set a new record for the warmest June night at this station (records began in 1948) and also for all of Lower Austria.”

All-time nighttime record at 26.9 degrees
The all-time record for Austria is no longer far off. It stands at 26.9 degrees, “recorded as the lowest temperature in downtown Vienna on July 23, 2015,” the meteorologist said. “This record, which still stands, could be broken in the coming nights.”

Old June heat record “shattered”
The thermometer continued to climb higher and higher throughout Saturday. The old June heat record of 38.6 degrees, set on June 20, 2013, in Waidhofen an der Ybbs, was virtually “shattered.” In the afternoon, a temperature of 39.3 degrees was recorded in Bad Deutsch-Altenburg, Lower Austria. This was followed by Stammersdorf at 38.8 degrees, Wieselburg (Lower Austria) at 38.6 degrees, Vienna’s Innere Stadt district at 38.5 degrees, and Innsbruck at 38.5 degrees Celsius.

Rise in the Number of Emergency Calls
The heat is also reflected in the number of calls handled by emergency services. For example, Vienna’s professional rescue service reported a roughly 15 percent increase in the number of emergency calls on Saturday. 

A spokesperson noted that it is striking that heat-related calls no longer affect only older people and vulnerable groups. “In a major city like Vienna, even healthy people need to be mindful of the temperatures,” he said. Once again, the recommendation is to drink plenty of fluids—but alcohol does not count.