How the Balkans region grappled with the hottest summer in more than a century

Associated Press

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Balkan countries are reporting that the summer of 2024 was the hottest since the measurements started more than 130 years ago. There were long periods with temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius or 86 degrees Fahrenheit. And the mercury often didn’t fall below 20 degrees Celsius or 68 Fahrenheit overnight. That all has pushed average temperatures to new highs. The region in southeast Europe is used to hot summers. But previous records were broken this year with repeated heat waves and an almost totally dry July and August. Hot weather in the Balkans has dried out rivers in Bosnia and Serbia. There have also been raging forest fires in Croatia, North Macedonia and Albania.