Record temperatures were recorded in several countries in Central and Eastern Europe, against the backdrop of extreme weather conditions causing forest fires and droughts, writes "The Guardian".
Record temperatures were reported in Slovakia, Austria and Hungary. The Slovak Hydrometeorological Service reported that in Dolné Plachtynce the thermometers showed 42°C.
In Poland, the coal-fired power plants "Kożenice" and "Polanec" have stopped operating after the critically low level of the Vistula River limited the supply of cooling water. The outage took about 1.3 GW of capacity out of the country's power system.
In Germany, climate activists demanding an end to the use of fossil fuels protested in front of the chancellery. Their dissatisfaction was caused by the lack of action to protect people from extreme heat.
In Hungary, the Paks nuclear power plant was temporarily shut down due to low Danube river levels. Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced that the plant would resume operation after the river level slightly rose.
The extreme heat and ongoing drought are being exacerbated by the escalating climate crisis, with experts warning that this is putting enormous pressure on local populations, critical infrastructure and wildlife across the region.
Pawel Pomian of the Polish environmental organization EKO-UNIA said that power plants that contribute to climate change are increasingly becoming its victims. "The faster we develop wind and solar energy - technologies that require the least water to produce electricity - the better we can protect both energy security and our rivers," he believes.
Since the beginning of the year, about half a million hectares have burned in the EU, mainly in Spain and France. A further 292,000 hectares have burned in Ukraine.
The intensity of the weather conditions conducive to the emergence and spread of fires - hot, dry and windy weather, which makes it difficult to fight the flames - has reached new record values for this time of year, with some countries exceeding previous records by an alarming amount. On Wednesday, August 5, a record high temperature of 41.2°C was recorded in Austria.
In the Czech Republic, where a new national temperature record was recorded earlier in the summer, fire danger indicators at the beginning of August exceeded the previous record by more than 50%.