Czech Republic, Lithuania see hottest June on record
The Czech Republic registered its hottest June since monthly averages have been compiled, with a peak of 38.9 degrees Celsius recorded on June 26, the weather service said Monday.
The thermometer hit that level, the equivalent of 102 degrees Fahrenheit, in the northern town of Doksany, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute said on its website.
In the capital Prague, "June 30 will be recorded as the date of the absolutely highest temperature since measurements started in 1775," the Institute said after recording 37.9C.
For June as a whole, the average national temperature was 20.7C, which was the warmest since 1961 when forecasters began monitoring monthly averages.
Further north in Lithuania, it was also the warmest June on record.
"The average monthly temperature stood at 20.1 degrees," Donatas Valiukas of the Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service was quoted by the Baltic news agency BNS as saying.
The previous record was 18.4 C, which was set in 1999.
Across Europe, several other records were set as well, with a town in southern France reporting a new national high of 45.9 C on June 28.
Back in eastern Europe, Poland registered its highest June temperature since 1951, with the mercury reaching 38.2C in the town of Radzyn on June 26, according to the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management.
Last week much of Europe sweltered in an early summer blast of scorching temperatures, as scientists warn that global warming linked to human fossil fuel use could make such heatwaves more frequent.
© 2019 AFP
