WIESELBURG, AUSTRIA / RankWire.AI / – Austria set a new July temperature record on July 31 as extreme heat spread across eastern regions. A weather station in Wieselburg, Lower Austria, measured 40.3 degrees Celsius. That reading surpassed the previous July high of 39.7 degrees, recorded in Dellach im Drautal in 1983. GeoSphere Austria confirmed the monthly record. The temperature remained below the national all-time high of 40.5 degrees, set in August 2013.
Extreme heat and drought have placed fresh pressure on Austria’s economy and health.
The latest record followed an exceptionally hot June across much of Austria. Of 277 monitored weather stations, 157 registered new June maximum temperatures. Another 66 stations recorded their highest temperature for any month. Vienna reached 40.0 degrees on June 28, while Bad Deutsch-Altenburg hit 40.1 degrees one day later. Many lower-altitude areas also faced between 10 and 14 consecutive days with temperatures above 30 degrees.
Researchers at the University of Graz’s Wegener Center estimated that the June and late July heatwaves caused about €1.4 billion in socioeconomic losses. The estimate covers health effects, lower labor productivity, agricultural damage, infrastructure stress and rising cooling demand. It also includes pressure on ecosystems and public services. The total does not represent a final government damage assessment. It also differs from insured-loss figures, which measure only claims covered by insurance policies.
Heat intensity exceeds previous national benchmark
The researchers assessed both heatwaves through area-degree days, a measure combining temperature, duration and geographic reach. The June event reached about 16,700 area-degree days. Their assessment placed the late July episode between 22,700 and 25,000. Austria’s previous benchmark came from a 24-day heatwave during July and August 2013. That event measured about 22,100 area-degree days across land areas located below 1,500 meters in elevation.
The early summer heat also coincided with a sharp rise in heat-associated deaths. The Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety estimated 395 such deaths during June 2026. That marked the highest June figure since the agency began tracking the measure. Heat-associated mortality reflects deaths above expected levels during periods of extreme temperatures. The measure does not require heat to appear as the only medical cause on every death certificate.
Severe drought adds pressure across Austria
Austria entered the heatwave after months of unusually low rainfall. Nationwide precipitation from January 1 through July 27 totaled about 426 millimeters. The average for that period stands at 609 millimeters, leaving a deficit near 30%. Authorities described the first seven months of 2026 as the driest such period since at least the early 20th century. Lower Austria, Vienna and northern Burgenland ranked among the areas facing the greatest rainfall shortages.
High pressure, strong sunshine and limited rain increased evaporation through late May, June and July. The conditions reduced soil moisture and strained crops, rivers, forests and regional water supplies. Austrian climate records show that heatwaves now occur more often and last longer than in previous decades. Average peak temperatures during heatwaves rose by about three degrees between the 1980s and the 2020s. The latest July record adds another milestone to Austria’s documented pattern of intensifying extreme heat.