After the death of 449 people last year, Austria restarts the hotline to combat high temperatures

The Austrian Ministry of Health announced the restart of the hotline dedicated to health problems resulting from the rapid rise in temperatures, and the increase in the number of days in which temperatures exceed 30 degrees Celsius to more than five times, since the 1950s.

Temperatures in Austria are rising faster than other European countries, exceeding the global average.

The climate report said that temperatures exceeding 30 degrees have become more common in recent years as part of a long-term trend, and the numbers showed that the number of hot days in Austria, which did not exceed 6 days annually during the 1950s, has increased to reach 30 days on average annually.

Recorded figures show that the temperature in Austria has risen by 3.1 degrees Celsius, compared to the period before the industrial revolution, as the rise in temperatures in July since 2000 has been noticeable in all federal states of Austria, with particularly noticeable increases in the state of Vienna by 3.1 degrees, Burgenland by 3.2 degrees, and in the state of Lower Austria by 2.9 degrees Celsius.

In the latest statistical statement, the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) revealed that 449 deaths related to heat waves were recorded during the summer of 2025, in the period extending from June to September.