Record heat and drought disrupt European energy and force evacuations in Germany

Record heat and severe drought are straining infrastructure and forcing emergency measures across Europe. Following Western Europe's hottest recorded June-July, global ocean surface temperatures hit a peak of 20.96°C in July.

In western Germany, authorities evacuated over 2,000 residents from Hürtgenwald in North Rhine-Westphalia after a wildfire approached within 200 metres of homes.

Concurrently, depleted river levels have crippled inland freight and constrained nuclear energy generation in Romania and Hungary. The Romanian navy conducted controlled riverbed blasts in the Danube to divert cooling water toward an operational reactor. Economic forecasts indicate that shipping delays and energy shortages could inflict up to two billion euros in losses across Central Europe during the third quarter.

Sources: Diário de Notícias (DN), Expresso, Expresso das Ilhas, Jornal Económico, RTP (Rádio e Televisão de Portugal)