BERLIN – The heat wave blanketing wide parts of Europe has pushed temperatures in Germany to their highest since recordkeeping began in 1881.
The town of Kitzingen in Bavaria recorded a temperature of 40.3 degrees Celsius Sunday afternoon, beating the previous record of 40.2 degrees last reached in 2003, the country's DWD weather service said Monday.
"The number of these heatwaves has strongly increased in the past 25 years and it's exactly what we expect to happen because of climate change," Uwe Kirsche, a spokesman for DWD, said by phone. "Society will have to learn how to handle more of these events."
The heat boosted power demand, lifting the cost of electricity for next-day delivery on the European Energy Exchange 32% to 49.02 euros a megawatt-hour, the highest since Dec 8.
Europe has seen sweltering hot weather in the past week, with a temperature record smashed in the UK and the wheat crop affected in France. Scientists say Europe faces more severe and extended periods of droughts because of man-made climate change.
High temperatures in 2003 resulted in more than 14,000 deaths in France and 7,500 in Germany, and caused billions of euros of losses for Europe's agriculture and forest industries.
Germany after the 2003 heatwave introduced a warning system that sends out heat alerts to institutions including nursing homes, hospitals and schools, Mr Kirsche said.
"It's proven very successful," he said. "The 2003 heat wave was the worst natural disaster we've ever seen in Germany. While we've had more heatwaves, we never had those fatality numbers again."