Austria The west and the north of Austria were worst affected by drought; certain areas in these regions experienced up to 85% less rainfall than the 10-year average. Insurance companies estimate the damage as high as 210 million euro.
Belgium Belgium experienced the second hottest July since regular measurements started in 1833, with an average of 22 °C. Precipitation during July was close to normal at the official weather station in Uccle; most regions however received less than 20% of the normal amount of rain for the month, which was especially true for the western part of the country. As a whole, 2 heat waves occurred: the first one between 13 and 27 July (making this the fifth longest heat wave in history) and the second one from 29 July until 7 August. Belgium's official weather service, the
KMI, defines a heat wave as a period of at least 5 days with maximum temperatures of 25 °C or higher, of which 3 days require a maximum of 30 °C or more.
Croatia Zagreb saw 19 nights in a row where temperature did not fall under , breaking the previous record that was set in the 2013 heat wave. Despite the lack of extreme temperatures seen , the 2018 summer saw temperatures averaging above the mean at all official weather stations and the year as a whole was the hottest on record in Zagreb, which has the tenth oldest contiguously monitoring weather station in the world, operating since 1861.
Denmark ,
Zealand in July 2017 and 2018. The Danish summer was exceptionally dry and warm, and several records were broken: According to the
Danish Meteorological Institute, May 2018 had the highest average temperature ever recorded for the month, beating the old record by (recording began in 1879), the highest number of sunny hours recorded in the month (recording began in 1920), the highest temperature recorded in
Copenhagen in the month (recording began in 1879), and it was the driest May in a decade. June had the highest average temperature in 26 years and it was the third driest since recording began in 1920. July was the sunniest ever recorded (recording began in 1920), and it was one of the driest and warmest ever recorded (recording began in 1879). The night between 30 and 31 July was the second-warmest on record. Heat increases the risk of cardiac arrest and other serious conditions in people with poor health. On 8 August,
Statens Serum Institut released a report that showed an increase of about 250 deaths, primarily among elderly, in the summer of 2018 (peak in late July) compared to the norm. A similar increase was seen in neighbouring countries affected by the heat wave, including other
Scandinavian countries. The unusually low water-levels in the
Gudenå, the longest Danish river, led to fears that the
SS Hjejlen would run aground. Because of the drought, farmers experienced a significantly reduced harvest. Outside fires and most types of barbecue grills were initially banned locally and later throughout the country due to the risk of fire. A total of 845 wildfires, both small and large, were recorded from 1 May to 5 July, which is about 500 more than the usual. In July alone there were more than 1,000 wildfires, or almost as many as typical of an entire year. Many foreign tourists, apparently unaware of the record-breaking weather, complained about the lack of
air conditioning in hotels, which usually is unnecessary.
Finland Finland experienced very high temperatures and drought, and like its neighbouring Scandinavian countries, several wildfires occurred. Its northernmost municipality of
Utsjoki, north of the
Arctic Circle, experienced a record-breaking temperature of in July.
France The French utility company EDF made known that on the morning of 4 August 2018 it had to shut down reactor number one of the
Fessenheim Nuclear Power Plant. This was necessary because the nearby river which is used for cooling water had reached a critical temperature. The
white storks in the
Alsace region have also been suffering under the drought and heat waves. The 2018 stork generation is generally malnourished. Many are too weak to fly and crash-land when they leave the nest, resulting in fatal injuries like broken legs or wings. But 2018 did not break any temperature records in France.
Germany in August 2018 Both April and May set new temperature records as the warmest April and May since modern record-keeping began in 1881. June experienced continued heat, with average temperatures above the 1961-1990 mean, while receiving only 57% of expected rainfall; July experienced average temperatures above the reference period and 52% of the expected rain, making it the fourth-warmest July since modern record-keeping began. The period from April–July is also the hottest and driest on record. The heat also caused the deaths of many
freshwater fish due to reduced oxygen levels in rivers and ponds, causing firefighters to pump in more water in order to raise the levels. Near
Hamburg, almost five tonnes of dead fish were collected by German authorities. On 26 July, regions in Western Germany hit ; on 31 July 2018, the heat traveled further east where some regions hit . The
Rhine and
Elbe river recorded high water temperatures causing fish to suffocate, and low water levels made shipping worse. On 31 July, temperature reached in
Bernburg, coming shy of the
all-time German temperature record set in 2015. Also on 31 July, the country experienced average highs of .
Greece On 23 July,
wildfires started in the areas of
Attica, killing 102 people and wounding 172 more, and destroyed or damaged over 1,000 buildings. On 24 July a state of emergency was declared near
Athens by the government. The cause of the fires is thought to be arson along with the heatwave causing the hot conditions.
Hungary Water levels on the Danube were extremely low, even breaking records in Central Hungary (Ercsi, Dunaföldvár, and Dunaújváros)
Ireland Met Éireann recorded the highest June temperature in more than 40 years. An 11-day heatwave was recorded, making it the longest heatwave in 20 years. Ireland experienced unseasonably high temperatures, with
Shannon Airport recording temperatures at or above 30 °C (86 °F) for five consecutive days from 26 to 30 June. A peak temperature of over 32 °C (90 °F) was recorded on 28 June at the airport. Absolute drought conditions were recorded at 21 different
Met Éireann stations between 22 May and 14 July 2018. Partial drought conditions were also recorded at 10 stations and dry spells were recorded at 5 stations at different times between 28 May and 25 July 2018. In July 2018,
Irish Water issued a six-week hosepipe ban in
Greater Dublin to conserve water, before extending the ban nationwide. The hosepipe ban length was also extended, and was eventually lifted on 1 September 2018.
Italy A heat wave struck the entire country, while 8 people died in
Genoa.
Latvia Latvia has seen fires that have destroyed around of land including
peat bog, scrubland and forest.
Netherlands In the
Netherlands, a heat wave is defined as a period of at least five consecutive days are so called "summery days" (days on which the daily maximum temperature is at least ), of which at least three days are "tropical" (days on which the daily maximum temperature is at least ). The Netherlands experienced a heat wave of 13 days starting with 15 July and to 27 July inclusive, the country's longest since the
European heat wave of 2006. The highest temperature of was measured in
Arcen,
Limburg, on 26 July. In many parts of the country authorities were planning for measures in case of water shortages.
Norway The Norwegian government has imposed water restrictions and the cost of electricity is expected to rise due to a high dependency on
hydro-electric generation. Portugal's average high temperature was above for 3 consecutive days (40.1 °C, 40.9 °C and 41.6 °C, respectively 2, 3 and 4 August) and 6 different municipalities recorded temperatures at or above with being recorded at
Alvega on 4 August.
Lisbon set the highest temperature of on 4 August. In Spain, 9 people died due to the heat wave. The 2018 heat wave in Catalonia took place from 25 July to 6 August. After three very dry years, drought conditions in Catalonia were widespread, but the rain of the first four months of the 2018 was higher than the climatic average and the agriculture recovered from the water deficit. The spring was not very warm and the heat of summer came suddenly. July was warm. The first heat wave did not produce deaths, but the second one was really deadly: the Public Health Agency of Catalonia (Aspcat) estimated that 23 people died from heat stroke. Most of the deaths were in the same city of Barcelona (eleven), six in the province of Barcelona, four in Tarragona-Terres de l'Ebre, one in Girona and one in Lleida. Ten people suffered heat stroke at home, thirteen on the street and six were at work or doing sport activities. Blood donations fall 40% due to the heat wave. According to the
Meteorological Service of Catalonia, the warmest days were 4 and 5 August. In
Stockholm, the previous monthly record of May was recorded in 1993, while the recorded monthly average of May 2018 reached . In Stockholm the monthly average of July reached , making it the hottest month on record. Sweden also experienced widespread drought.
More than 50 wildfires, ranging from north of the Arctic Circle to the southernmost county of
Scania, occurred and have been called the most serious in the country in modern history by the
Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency. They burned over , with in its central
Kårböle region. On 30 July, the Swedish nuclear power plant
Ringhals-2 was shut down, as the temperature in
Kattegat sea waters exceeded the design limit 25 °C for the reactor cooling system. Ringhals 2 reopened on 3 August.
Switzerland Switzerland had the warmest April–July period since meteorological records began in 1864. Likewise, 2018 broke the record for the least rainfall in any April–July period since 1864. Fearing
wildfires, authorities banned outdoor fires in the
canton of Valais and in the
Rhine river valley of
Grisons. 18 of the 26
cantons have restricted outdoor fires in some way.
United Kingdom From the start of June to mid-July the UK underwent their driest summer in modern records. On 29 June,
Northern Ireland Water introduced the first
hosepipe ban in
Northern Ireland since 1995. The highest temperature reached according to the
Met Office was in
Faversham,
Kent on 26 July. ==See also==