"We had four heatwaves" Record summer has parched the Balkan states

Hot summer months are part of the Balkans. But this year, heatwaves and drought have put a massive strain on the region. It is the warmest summer since records began.

Jelena Popovic loves summer: the sun, the light and the heat. Normally. But this year it was just too much. "This summer was too hot," says the Belgrade native, speaking from the heart of many people in the Balkans. "You couldn't go for a walk in the city," says Popovic. Only swimming was bearable. "It was like a tropical summer, as if we were living in Africa and not in Europe."

It was similar in large parts of the Balkans. The region in south-eastern Europe is used to hot months, but this year the summer broke all previous records with repeated heatwaves and an almost completely dry July and August.

Air mass from West Africa

The summer of 2024 in the Balkans was the hottest since measurements began more than 130 years ago. According to meteorologists, long periods with temperatures of more than 30 degrees Celsius, which did not fall below 20 degrees overnight, drove average temperatures to new highs. The EU climate service Copernicus also reported last week that the summer months of June, July and August were warmer on a global average than at any time since weather records began.

Southeast Europe was trapped under a subtropical warm air mass from West Africa and the Mediterranean region this summer, says Goran Pejanovic from the Serbian Hydrometeorological Service. "We had four heatwaves," he explains. "The strongest one in July lasted from July 5 to 21, almost three weeks without a drop of rain." Overall, the summer in Serbia was 3.3 degrees warmer than average.

"Normally, summer means an alternation of hot days with high temperatures and then a break after five to six days of rain and thunderstorms," confirms Serbian meteorologist Nedeljko Todorovic. "But that was only the case in June. There was practically no rain throughout July and August, while the high temperatures persisted."

"All records were broken"

The summer in Slovenia was also without the usual cooler periods, according to a report by the Slovenian environmental authority. Maximum temperatures were measured not only in the lowlands, but also in the mountains. At the beginning of September, temperatures throughout the country exceeded 30 degrees Celsius.

"All records were broken," is also the summary from Bosnia-Herzegovina with regard to the number of days and nights classified as very warm. In some areas, there were three times as many as in the previous year, says Bakir Krajinovic from the country's Hydrometeorological Institute. Neighboring Croatia reported record temperatures on the Adriatic. Meteorologists in Montenegro reported night-time temperatures of up to 29 degrees in some cities.

The consequences are being felt across the region: rivers in Bosnia and Serbia have dried up, forest fires have raged in Croatia, North Macedonia and Albania, farmland is parched and harvests have been lost.

Forest fires in North Macedonia

North Macedonia alone has recorded around 2,000 forest fires in the past three months, three times more than in 2023. Tens of thousands of hectares of forest have been ravaged by flames. And it's not over yet, warns civil protection officer Stojanche Angelov. "If it doesn't rain soon, we'll have forest fires until November."

In dozens of villages in Serbia, the drought had a massive impact on the drinking water supply. Soldiers transported water tanks to the mountains in the south-west of the country to supply thirsty cattle and horses. In the north, the Rusanda salt lake, whose mud is used for medicinal purposes, dried up completely. The lake became a gray moon-like surface. "It's not the first time something like this has happened. But never like this year," says Jovica Mudric from the local health center, "I know everyone likes summer, but we could use some rain."

dpa