Thursday is the hottest day of the year, with maximums that will reach +41 C in Oltenia, +40 C in Muntenia and +39 C in Moldova and Dobrogea. The heat wave will continue in the coming days, with highs expected to exceed 35 degrees, according to ANM data.
At midnight it was more than 20 degrees almost everywhere, with very high values in Timișoara (+29) and Roșiorii de Vede (+28 C).
On Thursday, at 7 a.m., the temperatures were between 14 C at Miercurea Ciuc and +24 C at Sulina and Sf Gheorghe – Delta, ANM data show. On Thursday it will be over 35 C in all regions, with maximums of 40 – 41 C, especially in the Danube meadow.
The least warm will be in Maramureș, with maximums between 26 and 29 C. And Friday will be very hot, with maximums of +38 C in Muntenia, 37 C in Dobrogea and +36 C in Oltenia. It won’t be so hot in the west of the country, with highs between 25 and 31 C. Morning lows at national level will be between 14 and 24 C.
And Saturday will be very hot, with nighttime lows between 10 degrees in Transylvania and 22 C in Dobrogea. The maximum of the day will reach 37 C in Dobrogea, Oltenia and Muntenia. In Banat, the maximum will reach +35 C, and in Transylvania, at +32 C.
Meteorologist Gabriela Băncilă, director of the National Meteorology Administration (ANM), told Digi24 that an “atmospheric blockage” is underway over southern Europe, where a mass of hot air is standing still. The heat wave could advance towards the Balkan Peninsula, including Romania, and it could also retreat, leading in the next two weeks to temperature fluctuations that could also produce violent weather phenomena.
“It’s a deadlock situation. These gridlock situations can lead to either heat waves, cold waves, or flooding from persistent and heavy rains. This atmospheric blockage, this blockage circulation, meaning a high pressure field that builds up, so a stagnant air mass. The air mass stagnates and heats up, it overheats,” she explained.
“It is forecast to be very hot for the next couple of weeks, especially in the southern half of the country I’d say. There are intensifications and retreats of this warm air mass, which is not very good, because the inhabitants of the rest of the country will not necessarily cool down, because this proximity between the very warm air mass and a colder air mass can it leads to violent phenomena, to violent storms,” the meteorologist added.
Cerberus Anticyclone has started to take its toll in Europe
A heat wave, caused by a weather phenomenon called anticyclone, baptized Cerberus, will cover southern Europe in the next week, with possible record temperatures in some regions. The sweltering weather has already started to take its toll in Europe, where several people fainted on the streets, according to Sky News.
Temperatures could exceed 40 degrees Celsius, while the Cerberus heat wave also reached regions in Spain, Italy, France, Greece and Turkey