Austria heat stress index shows high risk in 373 municipalities

A research team from the Complexity Science Hub (CSH) has released a heat stress index for all Austrian municipalities, revealing exceptionally high heat levels across the country. As of August 1, a total of 373 municipalities and 22 districts have been identified with a very high heat stress value.

The index calculates stress by factoring in the number of days with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius and the proportion of the population aged over 65. The findings indicate that heat stress is significantly higher in the eastern and southern regions of Austria compared to the west.

Lower Austria, Burgenland, and Carinthia are the most heavily affected provinces. Specifically, 145 of the highly stressed municipalities are located in Lower Austria, representing about a quarter of the total. In Burgenland, over half of the municipalities are affected, while Carinthia has 70 highly stressed municipalities, including the ten locations with the highest number of heat days.