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A heat wave from Africa is once again hitting southern Europe
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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A wave of hot air from Africa last week raised temperatures in southern Europe to almost 40 degrees Celsius, and this week African air will continue to "heat up" Europe, the Russian Hydrometeorological Center reports.
"A huge wave of hot African air grew upward to great heights and rose to the north and northeast, covering the southern countries of Europe and providing hotter weather there than normal. Salvation could be found on the coasts of the seas, where the temperature background, due to the proximity of water, was still more gentle," the meteorological service said in a statement.
In the south of France, the temperature rose to 30-35 degrees, in Spain and Italy - to 32-37 degrees, on the Balkan Peninsula the air warmed up to 32-37 degrees. Hot weather and wind contributed to the spread of fires in the area of the Greek capital.
"The coming week in southern Europe will also be hot. A new heat wave from Africa is spreading to the region," the report notes.
The heat has also reached the southern regions of Russia and Ukraine. Thus, on June 14 in Donetsk the maximum temperature was 34.5 degrees, which is almost 10 degrees above normal and only 0.4 degrees below the record set in 2010. In Volgograd on June 15, the record for the maximum temperature for the whole of June was updated - after midday on Friday the air warmed up to 40.1 degrees, while the previous record for the month, set on June 30, 1991, was 39.2 degrees.