Germany broke a new heat record for June on Wednesday afternoon, with temperatures reaching 38.6 degrees at a weather station in Coschen in Brandenburg.

The previous highest temperature for this month was 38.5 degrees in 1947, measured at a weather station in Bühlertal in Baden-Württemberg. 

Germany’s all-time heat record, however, remains unbroken. This was 40.3 degrees in the Bavarian town of Kitzingen. 

Meteorologists blamed a blast of hot air from northern Africa for the current heatwave early in the European summer, which could send thermometers above 40 degrees in France, Spain and Greece on Thursday and Friday.

The high temperatures have led to unusual behaviour around the Bundesrepublik. A man was stopped by police in Brandenburg for riding naked on his moped, after which he replied “Is it hot or what?”

In Munich, there was a topless row as burly security guards ordered a group of women sunbathing half-naked to cover up. 

The heat also led to safety and environmental concerns. On the north coast, sweltering temperatures bent railway tracks out of shape on a popular tourist route near Rostock on the Baltic Sea and an official said a track-laying company were trying to fix the damage.

In the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, the heat caused high levels of ozone pollution, which the state environmental agency said could have detrimental effects for those suffering from allergies and asthma. 

The western city of Dortmund called on its citizens to help water trees in front of their homes.

“The young trees in the street area are suffering from extraordinary drought stress in the current heat,” they wrote on their website.

With reporting by AFP.