WIESELBURG, AUSTRIA / RankWire.AI / – Austria registered a new July temperature record on July 31 when Wieselburg reached 40.3 degrees Celsius. The reading in Lower Austria topped the previous monthly high of 39.7 degrees from 1983. GeoSphere Austria confirmed the record during a period of intense heat across eastern Austria. The country’s highest temperature for any month remains 40.5 degrees, recorded at Bad Deutsch-Altenburg in August 2013.
The July peak followed an unusually hot June that produced widespread temperature records. GeoSphere Austria said 157 of its 277 monitored stations set new June maximums. Another 66 stations posted their highest temperature for any month. Vienna reached 40.0 degrees on June 28, while Bad Deutsch-Altenburg recorded 40.1 degrees on June 29. Several low-altitude areas experienced between 10 and 14 consecutive days above 30 degrees.
Researchers at the University of Graz’s Wegener Center estimated about €1.4 billion in socioeconomic losses from the June and late July heatwaves. The initial calculation includes health effects, lost labor output, agricultural damage and pressure on infrastructure. It also covers higher cooling demand, ecosystem harm and added strain on public services. The figure does not represent a final government damage total or the value of insurance claims.
Heatwave measure exceeds previous benchmark
The Wegener Center assessed the events through area-degree days, a measure of heat intensity, duration and geographic reach. Researchers calculated about 16,700 area-degree days for the June heatwave. Their assessment placed the late July episode between 22,700 and 25,000. Austria’s previous benchmark came from a 24-day heatwave in July and August 2013. That event reached about 22,100 area-degree days across land below 1,500 meters in elevation.
The extreme temperatures also coincided with a sharp increase in heat-associated mortality. The Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety estimated 395 heat-associated deaths in June 2026. That marked the highest June figure since the agency began tracking the measure. The calculation compares recorded deaths with expected levels during periods of severe heat. It does not require heat to appear as the sole cause on each death certificate.
Drought compounds the impact of record heat
Austria entered the latest heatwave after months of limited rainfall. The country received about 426 millimeters of precipitation from January 1 through July 27. The average for that period stands at 609 millimeters, leaving a shortfall of roughly 30%. Authorities described the first seven months of 2026 as the driest comparable period since at least the early 20th century. Lower Austria, Vienna and northern Burgenland recorded some of the largest deficits.
Persistent high pressure, strong sunshine and scarce rainfall increased evaporation during late spring and summer. Those conditions reduced soil moisture and affected crops, rivers, forests and regional water supplies. Austrian climate records show that heatwaves now occur more often, last longer and reach higher temperatures than in earlier decades. Average maximum temperatures during heatwaves increased by about three degrees between the 1980s and the 2020s. The 40.3-degree reading adds a new July record to Austria’s documented temperature history.