Women taking shelter under an umbrella walk to the Eiffel tower yesterday as a heatwave sweeps through Europe.
DPA/Berlin
A weekend heatwave in Germany has broken the national record for the highest recorded temperature since the 19th century.
The thermometer in Kitzingen in the southern state of Bavaria read 40.3° Celsius on Sunday, breaking the 2003 record by 0.1°, the German Weather Service said.
It was the highest temperature Germany has experienced since the start of record-keeping in 1881.
Efforts by Germans to keep cool proved deadly with 12 drownings reported in lakes, ponds, rivers and pools.
Storms that moved in on Sunday night broke the heatwave, bringing a dip in temperatures alongside heavy rains, hail and winds of 90 to 100kph, a Weather Service spokeswoman said.
The storms caused some train cancellations as trees fell across rail lines.
Some lines near Hanover and elsewhere remained blocked yesterday morning, and railway operator Deutsche Bahn said travellers should expect cancellations and delays until the afternoon.
Air travel was also impacted by the storms as 17 planes were diverted on Sunday night from Berlin’s Tegel Airport to other facilities, and other flights from the airport have been cancelled.
Two people were injured by lightning strikes.
