'Omega heat dome' scorches Europe from west to north, breaking records across the continent

Travelers planning a summer vacation in Europe are facing a stark warning as a record-breaking heat wave expands northward, with several countries — including Denmark — logging all-time high temperatures.

Denmark's meteorological agency said Saturday that Odense, on the island of Funen, recorded 36.6 degrees Celsius, setting a new all-time high since observations began in 1874. The previous Danish record was 36.4 C, set in August 1975.

The Czech Republic also broke its annual temperature record, with the mercury climbing to 40.6 C in Doksany in the northwest, surpassing the previous mark of 40.4 C set in 2012.

The Czech Meteorological Institute said Saturday that 20 of its 171 weather stations recorded all-time highs that day. It added that Sunday is expected to be even hotter, suggesting the new record may not stand for long.

Switzerland set back-to-back records, with Basel reaching 39.0 C around 1:30 p.m. Saturday — a day after hitting 38.8 C on Friday.

Germany is in its second consecutive day of temperatures exceeding 40 C.

On Friday, the western city of Saarbrücken, near the French border, hit 41.3 C, breaking the country's June temperature record. On Saturday, Drewitz in the state of Saxony-Anhalt reached 41.5 C around 4:30 p.m., rewriting that record just one day later. Germany had never recorded a June temperature above 40 C anywhere in the country until this week.

Most outdoor events have been scaled back or canceled. Berlin authorities deployed riot-police water cannon trucks near the Brandenburg Gate and Potsdamer Platz on Saturday afternoon to cool the city center. The states of Thuringia, Hesse and Saxony have been filling snowplow vehicles with water to spray down roads.

The heat wave, which began in Western Europe, spread in earnest to Central Europe — including Germany and Switzerland — from Friday. As of Saturday, 37 of France's 96 mainland departments were under red heat alerts. About 193 million people across Europe were exposed to temperatures of 35 C or above, according to AFP.

The heat wave was triggered by a mass of hot air from North Africa stalling over the European continent. The configuration — high pressure flanked on both sides by low-pressure systems — resembles the Greek letter omega (Ω), giving rise to the name "omega heat dome." The World Meteorological Organization expects the heat to move through Central Europe and into the Balkans.