Upper Austrian cities record sharp rise in heat days

Upper Austrian cities are experiencing an exceptionally hot summer, with several already recording significantly more days above 30 degrees Celsius than during all of 2025, according to an analysis by environmental organisation Greenpeace reported by ORF.

Greenpeace said the highest level of heat exposure had already been reached in 16 of Austria’s 80 cities. In Upper Austria, Braunau has recorded 32 days above 30 degrees, compared with 16 in the whole of 2025. Enns and Steyr have each recorded 30 heat days, while Linz has recorded 29 and Wels 28.

How heat feels in a city also depends on its buildings and, particularly, its vegetation. The analysis found that only just under a quarter of the land in Wels city centre is covered by greenery, compared with one-third in Linz.

Steyr is also heavily affected by heat, but Greenpeace said its heat days are more bearable because almost 50 percent of the city is green. The town of Ansfelden in the Linz-Land district is also considered a green pioneer, with green spaces covering 44.5 percent of its area. Greenpeace said these spaces were being used effectively as “natural air conditioning against urban heat”.

Greenpeace said expanding greenery was an important way to counter rising heat exposure. More trees provide additional shade, while green spaces can cool their immediate surroundings, the organisation said.

It called for binding measures to increase greenery in cities and urged the federal government to provide one billion euros for renaturation projects.