Temperature records tumble across Europe as heatwave moves east

Poland, Czechia and Slovakia are braced for record temperatures of over 40C as a heatwave linked to hundreds of deaths in western Europe spreads east. More than 191 million people in Europe faced temperatures of at least 35C on Sunday, with extreme heat warnings in Germany, Czechia, Poland and Hungary. Poland’s all-time temperature record of 40.2C from 1921 could be broken on Sunday. The Polish government’s security agency sent out text messages urging people to “avoid the sun and strenuous activity”, drink water and wear hats throughout the weekend. Multiple cities set up water curtains to help residents keep cool in the heat. The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute said it expected temperatures to exceed 41C “by quite a bit”. People cool off in the Vltava River in South Bohemia in Czechia. Photograph: Michal Čížek/AFP/Getty Images Czechia’s all-time record of 40.6C was recorded on Saturday. Temperatures did not drop below 20C at more than 100 meteorological stations overnight. But the institute said Sunday would be even hotter. “Yesterday’s record will most definitely be broken again,” it said. It also expected further records for the warmest night ever to be broken on Sunday night. Night-time records were also broken in Germany, with Bautzen in eastern Saxony reporting an overnight minimum temperature of 29.4C. The Berlin police used water cannon to help residents of the capital cool off on Saturday and will repeat the operation on Sunday. …