Poland hits 40.5C record as heatwave batters Europe
Poland has recorded its highest ever temperature as a severe heatwave sweeps east across the continent, highlighting the mounting cost of climate volatility for Europe's fastest-warming region.
Temperatures in Poland reached 40.5°C in the western town of Słubice on Sunday, breaking the country’s official all-time record of 40.2°C set in 1921 in Prószków. Agnieszka Prasek, a spokesperson for the state meteorological agency IMGW-PIB, confirmed the figures to Polsat News. The neighbouring city of Toruń recorded 40.3°C.
Słubice, located on the German border, had already notched Poland’s highest-ever June temperature of 38.9°C the day before. Most of the country saw temperatures exceed 35°C on Sunday. Forecasters expect the extreme heat to last into Monday before temperatures begin to cool on Tuesday.
The Polish milestones cap a week of shattered temperature records across the continent. France, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and the Czech Republic have all registered all-time highs as the heatwave moved eastwards. These cascading extremes carry direct implications for European economic stability, a point underscored by international leaders this week.
The immediate meteorological threat extends beyond the heat. IMGW-PIB has issued warnings for severe storms, including heavy rainfall and high winds, expected between Sunday and Wednesday. Western Poland already experienced storms on Sunday afternoon.
For Poland, this extreme weather compounds existing environmental pressures. Persistent drought conditions recently drove the water level of the Vistula, Poland’s longest river, down to a record low of just 4cm in Warsaw. This serves as a stark indicator of the mounting environmental threats facing the country.
At the opposite extreme, scientists have linked recent devastating floods in Central Europe directly to rising global temperatures. They found that human-induced climate change made the deadly 2024 floods in Poland twice as likely and 7% more intense.
The frequency of these events matches long-term climate projections. "Heatwaves like this are what we expect to see in a changing climate," said John Kennedy, head of climate information at the World Meteorological Organization. He noted that Europe is the fastest-warming continent, having seen a two-degree rise in average temperatures over the last 50 years.
Speaking at London Climate Week, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that "climate disasters are becoming more frequent, more destructive, and more costly". He noted that such events "hit the vulnerable people the hardest", a stark reality for a country that recorded a temperature low of -41.1°C in February 2025.
