European heatwave moves eastwards

AFP | Berlin

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A punishing early summer heatwave that has already scorched western and southern Europe spread east yesterday, bringing extreme weather warnings to Germany and reportedly causing motorways to buckle.

But some relief is due to arrive from the Atlantic and spread across the continent.

Germany’s national weather service (DWD) warned of “exceptionally high” temperatures reaching close to 40C degrees (104F) in places yesterday.

In Berlin, 18-year-old Nora said her strawberry stand on the side of the road felt “like a sauna” before temperatures had even reached their peak.

Hot sun

Her boss had told her to close the stall if she felt unwell, as the German capital sweated under a hot sun, Nora told AFP.

The heat was causing disruptions to transport, with Germany’s national rail operator Deutsche Bahn warning of impaired services in the west of the country, where temperatures were highest.

In the north-west close to the city of Bremen, the heat had caused the surface of the motorway to buckle in places, creating a danger for drivers, local media reported.

The acute high temperatures added to an extended period of unusually hot and dry weather through the first half of the year.

As well as an increased risk of forest fires, Germany’s rivers are also running low, causing problems for navigating the country’s waterways.

In the eastern city of Dresden, the level of the Elbe river has sunk to just 64 centimetres (25 inches), compared with an average of around two metres.