Central Europe is enduring record-breaking temperatures amid a persistent heatwave that is disrupting energy and transport systems across the continent.

On Thursday, temperatures in Slovakia reached 42.2 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) in the southern village of Dolne Plachtince, according to the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMU). Meanwhile, Austria's village of Bad Deutsch-Altenburg, near the Slovak border, recorded an all-time high of 41.2 degrees Celsius (106.2 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, as reported by the national weather agency.

Neighbouring Hungary also set a new overnight temperature record in its capital, Budapest, where temperatures only fell to 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, highlighting the persistence of the major heat.

In Italy, authorities placed all 27 of the country's major cities on the highest heat alert on Thursday for the first time this year.

The heatwave has also impacted infrastructure: Slovakia's only nuclear power plant is operating at 80 percent capacity due to record low water levels in the Danube River, Europe's second-longest river.

Thousands of excess deaths have been reported across Europe this summer amid the series of heatwaves, with experts warning that much of the continent's infrastructure was not designed to withstand such heat.

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Al Jazeera