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June and July this year brought a series of extremely hot days to Serbia and broke several temperature records. Heat waves they arrived earlier than usual, and the temperatures in some places exceeded 40 degrees, the portal announced "Climate 101".

Although such periods were once rare, today they are becoming more frequent, which experts associate with climate change and warn that society is not yet adapted to the new climate conditions.

Attribution study results climate change, conducted by a team of researchers from the Faculty of Physics in Belgrade, show that the heat wave from June 25 to 30, 2026 has become a "constant threat".

Hot days in July

This July, there were several "hot days" in Belgrade with temperatures over 35 degrees. Although a slight cooling is expected by the end of the month, experts warn of the consequences of exposure to this kind of weather.

It can affect the health of elderly and chronically ill persons, children and pregnant women. Those who work outdoors are also at risk, as well as homeless people, of whom there are about 5000 in Belgrade.

As historical data from the Republic Hydrometeorological Institute show, it used to be quite normal for the temperature in Belgrade to never exceed this threshold during one summer.

In the years between 1961 and 1990, the average in Belgrade was less than 2 days a year with a temperature of 35 or more degrees. If we look at the last 10 years, that average is several times higher, today it is "normal" 13,5 hot days a year.

Experts warn that we are not prepared for these temperatures, and that they are certainly due to climate change.

"What does 'we are not prepared?' This means that when our houses and buildings were built, when our city neighborhoods and parks were designed, when our traffic was organized, when our legislation on working hours was written - heat was simply not an important factor, it was not so frequent and intense, so dangerous. Therefore, we do not have adopted and established rules for protection against heat, whether it is in our homes, workplaces, schools or other locations of our everyday life," writes Klima101.

Records broken in June

June 2026 was the fifth warmest June since 1951 and brought with it several temperature records in some places.

Records for maximum temperatures for June were broken in 8 places, including Belgrade, where 38,9 °C was measured.

40,9 °C was measured in Kikinda on June 30, breaking the previous absolute record of 40,0 °C from July 2007, and 40,8 °C was measured in Palić, breaking a 74-year-old record.

A record number of days with a temperature above 35 ℃ was recorded in Vojvodina, as well as a record number of tropical nights during June in Novi Sad. The World Health Organization especially warns about the effects of tropical nights, because they prevent the body from recovering during sleep.

Is climate change to blame?

Attribution studies deal with the study of the impact of climate change on the occurrence and intensity of extreme weather and climate events (drought, heat waves, extreme precipitation), with the aim of clarifying to what extent human activity has contributed to the increased probability or intensity of such events.

In order to determine to what extent climate change caused by the human factor influenced this six-day extreme event, scientists from the Faculty of Physics analyzed the warmest six-day period every June from 1950 to 2026 in Serbia.

They concluded that such an event in the middle of the last century would have been practically an anomaly. In those climates, it would be expected to happen once every 152 years. However, today this is something we can expect every 2,8 years.

The danger that such a wave occurs in June, and not in the later summer months, is especially highlighted. Namely, in this period, the human body is not yet acclimatized to such heat, and the body enters a state of extreme stress.