LJUBLJANA, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Slovenia experienced its hottest summer on record in 2026, with temperatures from early July through the end of August averaging 2.8 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average, the Slovenian Environment Agency (ARSO) said on Thursday.
The previous record highs were recorded in 2003 and 2024, when average temperatures were 2.4 degrees above the 1991-2020 average, ARSO said.
This August was also the hottest August since temperature records began in 1950, while the country is currently experiencing an extremely severe drought that could become the worst on record, the agency said.
The Slovenian government has pledged financial assistance to farmers whose crops have been affected by the drought.
The country's Triglav glacier is also under severe pressure from the high temperatures. The Anton Melik Geographical Institute said last week that it expects the glacier on Slovenia's highest mountain, Triglav, to disappear completely by early October.
The glacier, located at an altitude of 2,864 meters, covered about 14 hectares in 1946 but had shrunk to just 0.2 hectares by 2023. ■