Poland records highest ever temperature as European heatwave moves east

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This is a breaking news story and may be updated as further information becomes available.

Temperatures in Poland have reached the highest level on record, as the heatwave that has hit Europe this week moves eastwards.

A figure of 40.5°C (104.9°F) was recorded in the town of Słubice on Sunday afternoon and 40.3°C in the city of Toruń, Agnieszka Prasek, the spokesperson for Poland’s state meteorological agency, IMGW-PIB, told Polsat News. Both are higher than the previous all-time high of 40.2°C.

It remains possible that an even higher temperature will be recorded today as measurements continue to come in and are officially confirmed.

Most of Poland has today seen temperatures above 35°C, with the hot weather likely to last into Monday.

On Saturday, Słubice, which is on the western border with Germany, had already recorded Poland’s highest-ever June temperature of 38.9°C. That surpassed the previous June record of 38.3°C set in 2019 in the village of Ceber, Lower Silesia.

Now, the all-time record of 40.2°C in the territory of today’s Poland (a country whose borders have changed regularly throughout history) has also been broken. That was recorded in 1921 in the town of Prószków, which at the time was part of Germany.

An even higher temperature, 40.5°C, was noted in 1943 in the town of Ścinawa, Lower Silesia, although that reading is not recognised as official as no documentation survived the war.

Much of Europe has this week seen sweltering temperatures, with many countries breaking all-time records, including France, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and the Czech Republic.

Forecasters have warned that extremely high temperatures will continue on Monday in most parts of Poland, though from Tuesday the weather will begin to cool.

In addition to the extreme heat, Poland’s state meteorological agency, IMGW-PIB, warns that severe storms, including heavy rainfall and high winds, are likely in parts of the country between Sunday and Wednesday. On Sunday afternoon, storms were recorded in parts of western Poland.

Various meteorological organisations and other scientists and experts have warned that the conditions seen in Europe this week will become increasingly common due to climate change.

“Heatwaves like this are what we expect to see in a changing climate,” said John Kennedy, head of climate information at the World Meteorological Organization. Europe is the fastest-warming continent, experiencing a two-degree rise in average temperatures in the last 50 years, he noted.

Speaking at London Climate Week, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that “climate disasters are becoming more frequent, more destructive, and more costly”, noting that it such events “hit the vulnerable people the hardest”.

As well as heatwaves, Poland has been affected by persistent drought conditions as a result of low rainfall in recent years. Last summer, the water level of its longest river, the Vistula, fell as low as 4cm in Warsaw.

Meanwhile, climate change has also increased the likelihood of flooding. After deadly floods hit Poland in 2024, scientists found that the catastrophe was made more likely and more intense by human-induced climate change.

And extreme weather has not been confined to heat. At the other end of the thermometer, a new record low temperature of -41.1°C (roughly -42°F) was recorded in Poland’s southern Tatra mountains in February 2025.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Klaudia Radecka / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Ben Koschalka

Ben Koschalka is a translator, lecturer, and senior editor at Notes from Poland. Originally from Britain, he has lived in Kraków since 2005.