Austria sizzles as summer arrives with a mini heatwave

Summer arrived in sweltering fashion in Austria during the week with the mercury hitting 35 degrees in many parts of the country yesterday.

Temperatures soaring in Austria as the country experiences a mini heatwave this week Image by Mack Male / CC BY-SA 2.0

An inauspicious start to the week saw cloud and rain prevail but by yesterday, the country was gripped in a temporary heatwave.

Austrians have been warned to splash the sun screen as temperatures hit 36 degrees today and tomorrow. Image by Andrey Belenko / CC BY 2.0

UBIMET meteorologist Josef Lukas said today and tomorrow would be extremely hot and temperatures could rise to 36 degrees by the weekend. He said that there might be a few rain showers in the hilly and mountainous areas but the rest of the country would stay dry.

The Local reports that the only blot would be in eastern Austria where a few clouds were forecast to dampen the sunshine.

It means that the Donauinsel Festival in Vienna will be bathed in sunshine this weekend and patrons going to it should pile on the sun cream to protect themselves.

While Saturday also looks like being very fine, there is a warning that there could be thunderstorms brewing amid the severe heat. The advice is to also pack an umbrella to protect for heavy storms which should begin to cool the country down again by the end of the weekend.