Sawt Falasteen - Austria, Slovakia hit new temperature records

A high of 41.2C was recorded at Bad Deutsch-Altenburg in eastern Austria, the GeoSphere Austria national weather agency said in a statement, breaking a previous record of 41C set on Tuesday in the capital Vienna.

In Slovakia, 41.4C was measured in the southwestern village of Kamenica nad Hronom, beating a previous high of 41.3 set in the same village in June, the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMU) said in a statement sent to AFP.

The records come during an exceptional spell of hot weather and low rainfall across central Europe which had already seen several local records broken.

Austria suffered its fourth-warmest July on record and at some measuring stations the precipitation deficit reached 90 percent, according to the weather agency.

On Tuesday evening, Christina, a 20-year-old ice-cream seller in Vienna, told AFP that business had been exceptionally slow earlier in the day because of the scorching temperatures.

"Later, when the sun goes down, we have lots of clients, thankfully," she said, adding that "the fan is saving us, it's our life-saver".

In Slovakia, the all-time temperature record had already been broken twice in June.

Climate change has intensified a drought across Europe this summer, with extreme heat driving the exceptionally dry conditions, according to experts.

F.AbuShamala--SF-PST