Austria Faces Record Heat and Severe Drought

High-pressure system OLAF brings 36-degree heat to Austria as the country records its driest start to a year since the early 1900s.

Austria is currently experiencing its third heatwave of 2026, with high-pressure system OLAF pushing temperatures to 36 degrees Celsius on July 29 and forecasts predicting 40 degrees by Friday. This heat coincides with the driest first seven months of a year since the 20th century began. From January 1 to July 27, 2026, precipitation averaged 426 millimeters, roughly 30 percent below the 609-millimeter climate average. This deficit exceeds previous records from 1971 and 2003. The drought has triggered 269 forest fires this year, far surpassing the 196 recorded in 2025 and the historical annual average of 149. Human behavior accounts for 83 percent of these fires. Water levels are critically low, restricting shipping on the Danube and pushing smaller streams in Lower Austria toward historical lows. In Upper Austria, major Danube tributaries are below long-term low-water values, and a five-kilometer stretch of the Mattig river has dried up completely.