Poland braces for historic heatwave as African air mass pushes temperatures to 41°C

A mass of exceptionally hot air from Africa is sweeping across Europe, bringing record June temperatures to the United Kingdom and France. The same heat dome will settle over Poland from Thursday 25 June, with thermometers climbing day by day and reaching their zenith on Sunday 28 June.

Onset and peak

IMGW, the Polish meteorological institute, issued second-degree heat warnings for ten voivodeships in the west, centre and south. Third-degree alerts, the highest level, are expected over the weekend as temperatures surge past 34 °C. By Sunday afternoon, western voivodeships such as Lubuskie and Lower Silesia could record 40–41 °C in the shade, while central Poland may see 38 °C and even the traditional cold pole, Suwałki, will hit 32 °C.

Spain has moved in with us, just at the start of the holidays. The temperature values we are expecting are typical of the Iberian Peninsula, not of central Poland.

Records under threat

Poland’s modern all‑time high is 39.5 °C, measured in Słubice in 1994. A reading of 40.2 °C was recorded in 1921 at Proskau, then part of Germany. Synoptyk Jakub Szuster of IMGW said numerical models may be underestimating the high‑pressure block, meaning actual values could exceed even the most alarming forecasts.

If that happens, it is a value that no one living within the current borders of our country has experienced.

Night‑time heat

Overnight lows between Saturday and Monday will barely dip below 25–26 °C, preventing buildings from cooling and placing extra strain on the body. Wasilewski pointed out that the number of hot days during a single heatwave has risen to seven, compared with at most five such days per year several decades ago.

Health warnings

Cardiologist Dr Tomasz Witkowski from Wrocław University Teaching Hospital stressed that patients with cardiovascular disease are particularly vulnerable. He advised them to stay indoors from late morning until evening and to hydrate carefully, as over‑hydration can decompensate heart‑failure patients.

Heat can cause blood‑pressure spikes, worsening of coronary artery disease and heart failure. These patients should not expose themselves to sunlight at all.

Emergency services in Opole region urged the public to avoid outdoor activity between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., to check on elderly relatives and to stay away from unguarded swimming spots. The mountain‑safety community “Tatromaniak” recommended cancelling ambitious hikes over the weekend, warning that heatstroke and dehydration are a real danger even at altitude.

Relief timeline

Very high temperatures up to 39 °C may persist into Wednesday 1 July. A clearer change arrives on Thursday 2 July, when heat retreats from most of the country, and by Friday 3 July maximums will drop below 30 °C nationwide. The following week should see a return to typical summer values of 21–27 °C.