Spanning between 1 June and 31 August, meteorological summer was characterised by frequent and long heat waves this year, but the Environment Agency did not register absolute record temperatures.

The highest temperature, at 38 degrees Celsius, was recorded in the village of Bilje in the west of the country on 22 July. The all-time high of 40.8C was measured at Cerklje airbase (SE) on 8 August 2013.

Bilje near Nova Gorica also had the highest number of days with temperatures above 30C, as many as 51. Between 30 and 50 hot days were recorded elsewhere on low ground.

July was the hottest month with temperatures above 35C. It also also saw an unusual frequency of what meteorologists call tropical nights with night-time and morning lows above 20C.

A record number of these was measured in some stations. The hottest were the nights between 6 and 8 July. Ljubljana for example could not cool down below 23.3C on 8 July.

The amount of rainfall was meanwhile 11% below long-term average at the national level, although the drought was not as bad as last year.

However, the rainfall was distributed unevenly. While the east half of the country had much less rain than usual, some places in the west received much more than long-term average.

The heat also caused above-average evaporation with above-average number of days when more than five litres of water vaporised per square metre. The south-west even had extreme agricultural drought.

The data were released on the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, observed on 16 September in memory of the signing, in 1987, of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

Slovenia is a signatory country and has also ratified all other amendments and adjustments to the protocol. Slovenia has never produced ozone depleting substances but has used them.