Temperature records have been broken across central and eastern Europe as extreme weather continues. Slovakia, Austria and Hungary registered new highs, with Slovakia reaching 42C in Dolné Plachtince. Poland shut down two coal-fired power plants after low water levels in the Vistula River, removing about 1.3GW of capacity.

In Germany, climate activists protested outside the chancellery, citing an estimated 11,900 heat-related deaths this summer. Annkatrin Schwirten of Fridays for Future Berlin called the heat a result of irresponsible fossil fuel policy. Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar reported that the Paks nuclear plant was returning online, but urged voluntary electricity reductions.

The heat and drought, supercharged by climate change, are straining infrastructure and wildlife. Paweł Pomian of EKO-UNIA warned that power plants driving climate change are becoming its victims, urging faster development of wind and solar power. Wildfires have burned about 500,000 hectares across the EU and 292,000 hectares in Ukraine, with fire weather records set in Austria, Czechia and Slovakia.