Italy is experiencing its most severe heatwave to date, with temperatures reaching around 40 degrees Celsius and tropical nights affecting dozens of cities under the highest alert level. According to meteorologists, these extreme conditions are expected to persist for at least another week. The Italian Ministry of Health has issued the highest heat warning for 25 out of 27 monitored cities, signaling a critical situation that is increasingly evident in hospitals. Reports from the Italian Society for Emergency Medicine indicate a 15 percent increase in patients visiting emergency rooms in major cities compared to normal levels. The impact of the heat extends beyond urban areas into the Alps, where temperatures in high-altitude regions are two to four degrees above the average for the period 1991–2020. This warming trend is particularly concerning for glaciers such as the Adamello, Marmolada, and Mont Blanc. Environmental organization Legambiente reports that nearly all 900 glaciers monitored in Italy are continuing to lose mass. The Adamello glacier alone is estimated to have lost approximately 12 million cubic meters of water within a year. Meanwhile, the risk of wildfires remains high, especially in the Piedmont region, where firefighters have been battling a blaze that has already destroyed around 40 hectares of forest. Due to heavy smoke, authorities have prepared for potential evacuations. Experts suggest that relief from the current situation is unlikely in the near future. Germany is also facing a new wave of heat, with the German Weather Service issuing official heat warnings for large parts of the country. These warnings apply mainly to central and southern regions, including North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Thuringia, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, and parts of Saxony. However, no warnings were issued for Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Berlin, Brandenburg, and northern Germany. The warnings are valid from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM today, and no extreme heat warning was issued. According to the weather service, heat warnings are issued when there is an expectation of strong thermal stress and when living spaces cannot cool down sufficiently at night. The basis for this is the "feeling temperature," which should exceed 32 degrees Celsius in the early afternoon. A warning for "extreme heat" is issued when this feeling temperature exceeds 38 degrees Celsius. The extreme heat and lack of rainfall have left a lasting mark on Europe. July 2026 has been recorded as the fourth-warmest month in the last 260 years and one of the driest ever. Brown, sunburned grass, dried-up streams, extremely low river and groundwater levels, dry cornfields, and high wildfire danger characterize the landscape from France to Eastern Europe. The lake level of Lake Constance reached a historic low for July, and the Danube is running at record-low levels during this time of year. The cause of this extreme drought is a prolonged dry spell that began last October and continued through July, with only brief interruptions. Rainfall in Austria was significantly below average, with deficits ranging from 54 percent nationally to up to 90 percent in certain areas. Only sporadic showers and thunderstorms managed to reach average rainfall levels, making July 2026 one of the four driest months since records began over 169 years ago. The preliminary annual balance for 2026 is even more alarming. In the first seven months, rainfall was the lowest recorded in the past 137 years. Similar conditions might have occurred in 1865 and 1887, but due to the lower quality of measurement data back then, comparisons are difficult. Extended periods of rain are unlikely in the near future, threatening agriculture with possible crop losses. The risk of wildfires remains high in some regions, reaching the highest risk level. Despite the extreme weather, the stability of the weather has resulted in fewer thunderstorms than usual. Although isolated storms caused damage, such as wind damage in Salzburg and Carinthia in mid-month and landslides in the rear Ötz Valley at the end of July, lightning activity was minimal compared to previous years. July 2026 was not only a dry month but also a hot one. Over much of the area, temperatures exceeded the long-term average, with only a few days in late June being slightly cooler. This explains why July 2026 ranks among the hottest months in recorded history. The average air temperature in Austria's lowlands was two degrees above the 1991–2020 average, while mountainous areas saw a rise of 1.9 degrees. Compared to the reference period of 1961–1990, deviations were even greater, 3.7 degrees in the lowlands and 3.4 degrees in the mountains. In western Austria, temperature deviations were even higher, with Bregenz recording the hottest July since measurements began. The stable summer weather brought an excess of sunshine, increasing sunlight hours by five to 15 percent in most of Austria, with increases of up to 30 percent in Vorarlberg and Tyrol. Low water levels have revealed historical artifacts and relics in several European rivers. In the Rhine near Kleve and Emmerich, the wreckage of the freighter "De Hoop 1," which sank in 1895 after an explosion, has become visible. In Croatia, the wreck of the Hungarian freighter "Fulton," which sank in 1937, is emerging from the Danube. In Serbia, remnants of a German wartime fleet sunk in 1944 are becoming apparent. Some of these wrecks will be removed as part of an EU-funded project by 2028, although the presence of unexploded ordnance complicates the process. At the Edersee in Germany, the bridge known as "Edersee Atlantis" becomes visible only when water levels are extremely low. Currently, the lake holds only 40 million cubic meters of water, far less than the usual 200 million. Along the Elbe in the Czech city of Decin, "hunger stones", rocks marked with warnings about famine during droughts, are exposed. At the Nussensee in Austria’s Salzkammergut, 22 kilograms of wartime debris, including ammunition and explosives, have surfaced, prompting military clearance efforts. In Düsseldorf, old electric scooters occasionally emerge from the Rhine, adding to local cleanup challenges. In Budapest, the Danube's low water levels have uncovered ancient relics, while in Bulgaria, the discovery of woolly mammoth bones near the town of Russe highlights the unusual exposure of prehistoric remains. In France, the devastating wildfires have led to the uncovering of World War II-era bullets and shells in the village of Le Porge near Bordeaux.
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