England sees hottest day of 2025 with 33.6 Celsius, could reach 35 Celsius
The heatwave is set to peak in the South East with temperatures projected to reach up to 35C making it the hottest day of the year so far, PA news agency reported.
Much of England has been issued with warnings of extreme heat this week as Monday brought the hottest start to Wimbledon on record.
The Met Office said temperatures could reach 34-35C in London on Tuesday, before cooler conditions sweep in from the North later in the day.
It is the second heatwave for parts of the UK within the last month.
Separately, BBC reported 33.6 Celsius in Frittenden, Kent, making it the hottest day of the year.
Key events
EU hopeful about securing tariff deal with US
Lisa O’Carroll
in Brussels
European trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič will travel to Washington tomorrow hoping to strike a tariff agreement in principle with Donald Trump’s team.
He will meet trade representative Jamieson Greer with hopes rising they will have enough in the coming days to agree the basics ahead of 4 July Independence Day negotiations.
At the same time the EU recognises the volatility on the US side and are working to avert any further threats of tariffs that Trump may like to announce to extract more concessions from the EU. He recently warned tariffs on pharma were coming “very soon”.
If an agreement in principle is struck, talks would then continue, possibly beyond 9 July, to work out the detail.
This would follow the pattern in the UK which took more than a month to get to a final text.
Yesterday Šefčovič revealed it was a good time to get down to “drafting” an agreement and “drafts of proposals for the eventual agreement in principle”, a significant change of language which suggests they close to settling differences on major issues.
EU sources confirm the European Commission is now putting all its efforts into a “quick deal” rather than hold out for a deep and wide one covering up to 1,000 product lines.
This follows criticism by German chancellor Friedrich Merz last week that the EU’s approach to the talks was too complicated.
Germany’s priority is to get the 27.5% tariffs reduced or eliminated on car exports and the same for steel exports which are facing 25% tariffs.
The Baltic states, in particular, area also keen to build on the humouring of Donald Trump at last week’s Nato summit and want to ensure everything is done to keep him on board with weapons supply in Ukraine.
Sources say the EU is more or less resigned to a 10% blanket tariff on exports to the US remaining and may offer more imports on semiconductors to sweeten the deal.
However there remain worries that Trump could yet announce tariff on pharma exports as part of his negotiation tactics to extract more from the EU.
An EU technical delegation flew to Washington on Monday, ahead of Šefčovič ’s visit with expected meetings with commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, who looks after sectoral deals, and with Greer.
With the clock ticking down towards Trump’s self-imposed deadline for a deal of 9 July, there is still plenty of room for a change of mood in the Oval Office.
Overnight Trump expressed frustration over Japan trade negotiations on Monday with treasury secretary Scott Bessent warning that countries could be notified of sharply higher tariffs as a 9 July deadline approaches despite good-faith negotiations.
Speaking on Monday in Brussels, Šefčovič told reporters:
“9 July is around the corner. So for me, it’s always a good sign when we kind of move from, I would say, exchange of views, into the drafting process.”
“As you know, we received first drafts of proposals for the eventual agreement in principle we are working on that.”
He added the EU was pushing for a deal that “was fair for both sides”.
Germany braces for ‘Bettina’ and 40 Celsius temperatures on Wednesday
Deborah Cole
in Berlin
The hot weather front known in Germany as Bettina is expected to have the nearly entire country in its grip by Wednesday, with temperatures shooting toward the 40-degree Celsius mark and only the coasts and Alpine peaks spared the scorching temperatures.
Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany’s most populous state, issued early warnings to the population to take precautions for extreme heat.
The all-time high temperature record for Germany of 41.2 degrees, measured in NRW on 25 July 2019, was seen as not out of reach this week, until summer storms forecast for the end of the week provide relief.
Industry groups warned that schools, elderly care homes and hospitals were ill-prepared for the heatwave – an urgent issue they said must be addressed as the frequency of life-threatening weather increases.
“Strong heat is a challenge for clinics and staff. Due to a lack of investment, few hospitals have air-conditioned rooms, offices and break rooms,” the head of the German Hospital Association, Gerald Gaß, told the daily Rheinische Post.
Social welfare advocates also called for better training for caregivers to help cope with the heat and recognise signs of distress.
Anja Bensinger-Stolze of the GEW teachers’ union said schools needed immediate stopgap measures to limit sun exposure in classrooms and courtyards and provide free drinking water and first aid measures in case of sun stroke, in an interview with the RND media group.
Rising temperatures are taking an increasing toll on Europe’s top economy as well.
The number of sick days linked to extreme heat has risen steadily since 2015, and surged 12% from 2018 to 2023, when 92,700 days were registered. Men reported significantly more sick days than women, particularly among those working in strenuous jobs outdoors such as construction.
The opposition Greens joined the far-left Linke in backing the creation of a legal right for employees to time off work due to extreme heat, similar to the rules enforced for school pupils.
Employers who fail to guarantee a workspace temperature below 26 degrees should forfeit the right to demand staff labour, according to a motion from the Greens parliamentary group seen by RND.
German weather station records all-time rainfall low for first half of 2025
Ajit Niranjan
A key weather station in Germany has likely recorded an all-time rainfall low for the first half of 2025, meteorologists say.
The weather station on Telegrafenberg in Potsdam, just outside Berlin, shows the first six months of the year were the driest since measurements began in 1893, according to the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).
The station is a central reference point for comparing long-term weather trends, the institute said, as it is the only meteorological station in the world with a comprehensive measurement programme that has been running continuously for over a century.
Its scientists said just 146.8 millimetres of rainfall fell from January to the end of June this year, even less than the previous record of 158.5 millimetres over the same period in 1942. The long-term average is around 300 millimetres.
Peter Hoffmann, a meteorologist at the institute, said forests were particularly affected by the long periods of drought.
“The damage caused in recent years is clearly visible in many regions of Germany and has not yet been repaired, and the renewed dry spell is exacerbating the problems,” he said.
“In addition, the higher temperatures have led to higher water requirements for vegetation and the landscape. This is because the average temperature in Germany is now around 2C higher than it was 100 years ago.”
England sees hottest day of 2025 with 33.6 Celsius, could reach 35 Celsius
The heatwave is set to peak in the South East with temperatures projected to reach up to 35C making it the hottest day of the year so far, PA news agency reported.
Much of England has been issued with warnings of extreme heat this week as Monday brought the hottest start to Wimbledon on record.
The Met Office said temperatures could reach 34-35C in London on Tuesday, before cooler conditions sweep in from the North later in the day.
It is the second heatwave for parts of the UK within the last month.
Separately, BBC reported 33.6 Celsius in Frittenden, Kent, making it the hottest day of the year.
Portugal recorded highest ever June temperature of 46.6C
Portugal recorded its highest-ever June temperature of 46.6C on Sunday, the national weather service said, reported by AFP.
The scorching high was registered at Mora about 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of Lisbon.
The previous June high of 44.9C was recorded in 2017 in the southwestern town of Alcacer do Sal.
The weather service added that 37% of its monitoring stations recorded temperatures higher than 40C on Sunday.
Spanish authorities are investigating whether a street sweeper’s death over the weekend in Barcelona was caused by an intense heatwave gripping the country and region, the city council said, reported by Reuters.
The woman, who had been cleaning the old town in Barcelona on Saturday afternoon, died later that day at home, her sister told the Antena 3 TV station.
Reuters reported that her sister said the 51-year-old woman, identified just as Montserrat, had told a colleague she thought she “was dying”.
Temperatures reached 30.4C (86.7F) in Barcelona on Saturday, weather agency AEMET said.
Reuters noted that extreme heat can kill by causing heatstroke, or aggravating cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, with older people being among the most vulnerable.
The city council said on Monday it would investigate the woman’s death.
Greece not seeing mercury hit record highs this heatwave
Helena Smith
in Athens
But while western and central Europe sizzle, Greece is not seeing the mercury hit record highs – even if it’s still very hot.
After high temperatures nudging 40 Celsius over the weekend, north westerly winds have brought much-needed respite to Athens.
Though, at 38C, temperatures have risen slightly again today and tavernas and eateries in the ancient Plaka district had fans on full blast, tourists were relieved that at least they were not experiencing the sort of heat recorded in Portugal.
“It’s great that it’s windy,” said Noelia sitting with her partner Pablo under the shade of mulberry trees and a giant palm.
“We’re from Asturias in northern Spain and we’re not used to such heat. We’ve heard that by the time we go back on Wednesday its going to be raining there and we’re happy!”
Greek authorities were forced to open air-conditioned facilities for elderly and vulnerable as the mercury climbed over the weekend. People were also banned from working outdoors.
Civil protection officials say their greatest fear is wildfires with fire fighting services placed on alert.
June 2025 ‘smashed records’ on temperature, Spanish meteo agency says
Sam Jones
still waiting for his delayed train in Seville
The Spanish state meteorological agency, Aemet, said in a social media update that “June 2025 smashed records” when it comes to high temperature, with an average temperature of 23.6 Celsius, 0.8 Celsius above the previous hottest June in 2017.
The monthly average was also 3.5 Celsius higher than the average over the period from 1991 to 2020, it said.
The agency’s comments come just days after Spain’s highest ever June temperature of 46 Celsius was recorded in the Huelva province of Andalucía.
Jakub Krupa
Let’s now check for the latest on extreme weather warnings across the continent and how countries are dealing with the heat.
Poland’s Tusk criticises Germany’s migration policy shift, reintroduces border controls
Jakub Krupa
Here’s more from Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk on the decision to introduce temporary border controls with Germany and Lithuania, effective from 7 July.
The decision was made after a government meeting this morning with the Polish Border Guard, which requested the measure in response to significant protests at Poland’s borders over the weekend.
In his remarks at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting, Tusk blamed Germany for the move.
He said “the way operations are conducted at the Polish-German border has clearly changed over the past month,” as Germany “has effectively begun refusing entry to migrants who are heading to Germany to apply for asylum or other forms of protection.”
He argued that the recent policy shift – combined with unilateral border controls with all neighbouring countried introduced by Germany – has placed undue pressure on Poland to accept individuals denied entry at the German border.
“This new approach is problematic: with no border checks on the Polish side, it becomes increasingly difficult to determine whether those being returned or redirected to Poland are in fact subject to such procedures,” he said.
Tusk added that he had spoken “several times” with Germany’s Merz, warning him that Poland’s “patient stance … was wearing thin.”
“We have been defenders of the Schengen Area and remain advocates of a Europe with open borders and unrestricted movement. However, such a system requires equal and symmetrical commitment from all neighboring countries.
Therefore, the temporary reinstatement of border controls on the Polish-German border is necessary to reduce, to the minimum, the uncontrolled flow of migrants crossing … the border.”
Tusk added that “the task of the Border Guard is to … block any unjustified or unauthorized returns of migrants by the German side if they happened,” and “in order to gain control over this process, border checks must be reinstated.” “There is no other way,” he said.
Tusk also pointedly warned Merz that if German government extends one-sided border controls in September, “contrary to the spirit of the Schengen Code and EU law,” Poland would retaliate with a similar move.
The time when Poland would not respond appropriately to such actions has definitively come to an end.
The Polish PM added that the move to introduce temporary border controls with Lithuania was directly linked to the German policy change.
He argued that with the Polish-Belarusian heavily militarised border fully closed to irregular migration, other neighbouring countries, Latvia and Lithuania, are now being used to explore alternative routes for irregular migration, entering the Schengen area through the Baltics.
As a result, he said, “the stream of illegal migration, orchestrated by Russia and Belarus, continues to flow through Belarus, Latvia, and Lithuania – and Poland, after all, has an open border with Lithuania.”
Tusk also said he would work more closely with the Baltics to push the EU to act more decisively “to obstruct or prevent the operations orchestrated by Putin and Lukashenko, involving the organization of illegal migration and large-scale trafficking” into the EU in a bid to destabilise the bloc.
Merz was earlier asked about Poland’s growing criticism during a joint press conference with his Luxembourgish counterpart.
Speaking just minutes before Tusk announced Poland’s decision, Merz said he was aware of Polish concerns and repeatedly spoke with the Polish prime minister in recent days, with interior ministers also holding “a long telephone conversation” last night.
But he insisted that there were “no returns from Germany to Poland of asylum seekers who had already arrived in Germany.”
Instead he appeared to suggest that Germany simply exercises its right to reject people at the border.
Merz also said the two countries “have a common problem that we want to solve together.”
The German chancellor also told the press conference that:
“We naturally want to preserve the Schengen area, but freedom of movement in the Schengen area will only work in the long term if it is not abused by those who promote irregular migration, in particular by smuggling migrants.”
Poland introduces temporary border controls with Germany, Lithuania from Monday
Jakub Krupa
We’re just getting fairly big news from Warsaw.
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has just announced that Poland will introduce temporary border controls with Germany and Lithuania from Monday amid growing tensions over irregular migration.
More soon…
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