WIESELBURG, AUSTRIA / RankWire.AI / – Austria experienced a new temperature high for July on July 31 amid widespread extreme heat across its eastern regions. A weather station located in Wieselburg, Lower Austria, recorded 40.3 degrees Celsius, surpassing the previous July record of 39.7 degrees set in Dellach im Drautal in 1983. GeoSphere Austria verified this monthly record, which stayed below Austria’s all-time high of 40.5 degrees recorded in August 2013.
This recent temperature peak followed an unusually hot June across much of Austria, where 157 of 277 weather stations registered new maximum temperatures for June. An additional 66 stations recorded their highest temperature ever recorded in any month. Vienna hit 40.0 degrees on June 28, and Bad Deutsch-Altenburg reached 40.1 degrees the following day. Many regions at lower altitudes also faced between 10 and 14 days with temperatures staying above 30 degrees.
According to the Wegener Center at the University of Graz, the heatwaves in June and late July resulted in approximately €1.4 billion in economic and social losses. This estimate considers health impacts, decreased workforce productivity, agricultural damage, infrastructure stress, increased cooling demands, ecosystem strain, and pressures on public services. It is not a final government damage assessment and does not account for insured losses, which cover only claims made through insurance policies.
Heat intensity surpasses previous national record
The study evaluated the heatwaves using area-degree days, a metric that combines temperature, duration, and geographic extent. The June event registered around 16,700 area-degree days, while the late July heatwave ranged between 22,700 and 25,000. Austria’s prior benchmark involved a 24-day heatwave during July and August 2013, which measured approximately 22,100 area-degree days across land areas below 1,500 meters in elevation.
The early summer heat coincided with a significant rise in heat-related fatalities. The Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety estimated 395 deaths associated with heat during June 2026, marking the highest June figure recorded since monitoring began. Heat-related mortality refers to deaths above typical expected levels during extreme temperature periods, without requiring heat to be the sole cause listed on death certificates.
Intense drought conditions intensify pressure throughout Austria
Austria’s heatwave followed months of unusually low rainfall, with total nationwide precipitation from January 1 to July 27 amounting to about 426 millimeters. The average for this period is 609 millimeters, leaving a deficit of nearly 30%. Authorities described the first seven months of 2026 as the driest since at least the early 20th century. Areas such as Lower Austria, Vienna, and northern Burgenland faced some of the most significant rainfall shortages.
Persistent high-pressure systems, intense sunlight, and limited rainfall during late May, June, and July increased evaporation rates. This situation reduced soil moisture and placed stress on crops, rivers, forests, and regional water sources. Climate records in Austria show that heatwaves are becoming more frequent and last longer than in previous decades, with average peak temperatures during heat events increasing by about three degrees from the 1980s to the 2020s. The latest July record underscores Austria’s ongoing pattern of intensifying extreme heat.