Europe sizzles under heat wave as records are smashed in Switzerland, Denmark, Germany

Temperatures hit record highs from Switzerland to the Czech Republic and Denmark on Saturday, as a heat wave that baked western European countries this week moves to central and eastern parts of the continent. 

Germany hit a record 106 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday, provisional data from the national weather service showed, marking a new all-time high, the AFP reported.

Unusually high temperatures were recorded even in Nordic countries not known for sweltering summers. The Danish Meteorological Institute reported a new record of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit in Ødum north of Aarhus — the warmest day since records began in 1874.

In Switzerland, a record of 101.8 degrees was set in the city of Basel.

Germany’s famous Autobahn was overwhelmed, too, as temperatures were expected to hit 104 degrees. In two places outside Berlin, the concrete of the A2 burst due to the high temperatures and the highway had to be closed. Other highway damage was also reported across the country, according to German daily Bild.

Train operator Deutsche Bahn and other rail companies advised against all nonessential train travel this weekend.

“Germany’s transportation infrastructure is being severely affected by the record-breaking heat this weekend,” Deutsche Bahn said in a statement.

The Czech Republic also saw its hottest day on record, with 105 degrees in the northern town of Doksany. Forecasters said it may still rise.

In the western German city of Dormagen, dozens of residents of a nursing home were evacuated for medical care due to dangerous heat conditions in the building.

The local fire department reported temperatures inside the home had reached 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Air conditioning is not widespread in Germany and many countries in Europe because the continent is largely not used to such oppressive heat.

A resident at the home died overnight, but it was not yet clear whether the heat was the cause, a city spokesperson told German news agency dpa.

In France, temperatures were easing as the peak of the heat wave was starting to pass in some parts of the country. But hospitals remained under intense pressure in the face of heat-related emergencies, including heart attacks, heatstroke and dehydration.

The Paris public hospital authority said it activated its emergency response plan across all 38 hospitals to deal with a continuous increase in activity.

The AP-HP authority said Friday its emergency departments treated nearly 3,000 patients in the past 24 hours, over a third more than normal, with a large proportion of them over the age of 75 requiring hospitalization. Phone calls to its medical dispatch centers were up nearly 80% compared with the same period in 2025, it said.

Three-quarters of France, encompassing tens of millions of people, was put under a red alert for extreme heat on Thursday and Friday as the mercury topped 104 degrees in some locations, including in Paris.