Slovakia is experiencing an unprecedented heatwave with temperatures reaching a record-breaking 42°C, while neighboring Austria and Hungary have also registered historic highs, the outlet reported.
The Guardian added that authorities in Poland were forced to shut down the Kozienice and Połaniec coal-fired power plants after critically low water levels in the Vistula River limited cooling water supplies. The disruption removed about 1.3GW of capacity from Poland’s power system.
In Germany, climate activists demanding an end to the use of fossil fuels demonstrated outside the chancellery against the lack of government action to keep people safe from extreme heat. An estimated 11,900 people across the country have died from heat this summer, according to new estimates from the Robert Koch Institute.
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced that the Paks Nuclear Power Plant which had been temporarily powered down would be going back online. However, he urged Hungarians to voluntarily reduce their electricity consumption.
The brutal heat and continuing drought conditions are being supercharged by the escalating climate crisis, and experts warn these are putting huge pressure on local populations, critical infrastructure, and wildlife across the region.
During a record-breaking heatwave at the end of June, more than 10,000 excess deaths were recorded across 27 European countries, with the vast majority occurring among people aged 65 and older, according to data from EuroMOMO. Analysts noted that this sharp spike in mortality is most likely directly related to the extreme temperatures.