Europe Heatwave Shifts East as Death Toll Climbs Past
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- Budapest is forecast to exceed 40°C on Tuesday as the heat dome shifts east, with Belgrade hitting 38°C and Bucharest 37°C on Monday, while Slovakia set a new national temperature record of 40.5°C.
- Hungary's Prime Minister Péter Magyar called for 'complete national unity' and published a list of more than 2,000 air-conditioned cooling centres, while the Paks nuclear power plant received a temporary exemption from downstream cooling water temperature rules to prevent steep output cuts.
- Germany recorded its highest temperature for a third consecutive day at 41.7°C in Coschen, Brandenburg on Sunday, buckling tram tracks in several cities and prompting Berlin police to deploy water cannon on crowds in public spaces.
- Red heat warnings have been issued across Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovakia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina; Croatia issued alerts for Zagreb, Split, and Dubrovnik, and dozens of firefighters with four aircraft battled a wildfire on the tourist island of Vis.
- France reported more than 1,000 excess deaths from the heatwave and Spain recorded more than 800 additional deaths nationwide; two cyclists died at a Poland Bike Marathon, two Bulgarian boys were found dead in a parked car in Cyprus, and Germany reported at least 13 swimming-related deaths over the weekend.
- Ukraine's battered energy grid is bracing for a sharp rise in electricity demand as temperatures climb to 35–38°C, with emergency power outages reported in several regions; Yasno CEO Serhii Kovalenko warned the power system will operate in a 'very strained mode.'
- Central and eastern Europe faces compounding vulnerabilities, with socialist-era prefabricated concrete blocks that trap heat and air conditioning usage in the low single digits against a European average of about 19%, according to the International Energy Agency.
Why it matters: Eastern European capitals face the worst of this heatwave with AC penetration in single digits versus a 19% European average — making the 40°C-plus forecast for Budapest uniquely dangerous. France and Spain have already tallied over 1,800 combined excess deaths, while Ukraine's war-damaged grid faces new strain as electricity demand spikes with temperatures climbing to 38°C.
