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Vienna has rewritten its climate history: On Tuesday afternoon, 41°C were recorded in Vienna‑Stammersdorf, breaking Austria’s national temperature record. The previous all‑time high of 40.5°C, measured in Deutsch‑Altenburg in 2013, has officially fallen — and just one day after Vienna set a new city record of 40.1°C.
🔥 Record heat across eastern Austria
The extreme value in Stammersdorf was not an isolated spike. In Langenlebarn (Lower Austria), temperatures climbed to 40.7°C, setting a new state record. By 16:00, nine weather stations across the country reported 40°C or more, including:
- Bad Deutsch‑Altenburg — 40.4°C
- Krems — 40.2°C
- Langenlois — 40.2°C
- St. Pölten — 40.2°C (first time above 40°C since records began)
- Wieselburg — 40.1°C
- Gars am Kamp — 40.0°C
- Vienna Inner City — 40.2°C
According to the weather service Tauernwetter, never before have so many Austrian stations crossed the 40°C threshold on a single day.
🌡️ Heatwave reaches its peak
The current heatwave intensified rapidly on Tuesday. At 13:30, Stammersdorf became the first station to exceed 40°C. Within an hour, Bad Deutsch‑Altenburg and Langenlebarn followed. By mid‑afternoon, Langenlebarn reached 40.7°C, the highest temperature ever measured in Lower Austria.
GeoSphere Austria had already issued the highest weather warning level (red) for Vienna, the northern Burgenland and northeastern Lower Austria for Tuesday and Wednesday. Meteorologists expect further extreme highs on Wednesday, marking the peak of this prolonged heat phase.
🌍 Heat across the country
While the focus was on the east, the rest of Austria also baked. Among roughly 250 GeoSphere stations below 1,500 meters, only 22 locations reported highs below 30°C at 14:00. Most lowland and valley regions experienced intense, widespread heat.
🌞 Why is it so hot?
Meteorologists point to severe dryness as a key driver. With soils lacking moisture, evaporative cooling has nearly disappeared — a process that normally absorbs heat from the air. Without this natural brake, temperatures rise faster and higher.
⚠️ A historic and alarming milestone
Austria’s new national record of 41°C underscores how exceptional the summer of 2026 has become. With multiple records broken in just 24 hours, meteorologists warn that the country is experiencing unprecedented heat dynamics — and the heatwave is not over yet.
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