The weekend heatwave brought a level two weather warning, but from Tuesday this will subside, and bring more cloud cover and scattered showers and thunderstorms Wednesday and Thursday, just in time for the midsummer break.

The overall highest value, 32.4C, recorded at Kunda, Lääne-Viru County, at around 5 p.m. Sunday, overtook the 33-year-old record of 30.9C, though the all-time June high for the country as a whole – 34C recorded in Tartu way back in 1904 remains intact.

A high dating back to June 1937 was also exceeded by almost one degree at Tiirikoja, Jõgeva County, with Sunday's temperature of 31.5C.

Meanwhile in Viljandi, a 65-year-old record was beaten with Sunday's value of 32C, and a 33-year-old maximum June high in the southern border town of Valga was also overtaken, with the same temperature value.

In Jõhvi, Ida-Viru County, a temperature of 31.2C moved past the previous record, from 1998, by 0.1C, while in the capital, the June record, which only dated back to 2019, also succumbed Sunday, at 31.8C (up from 31.1C).

Monday will see temperatures up to 35C, thunderstorms

Monday may see the above list scratched less than 24 hours after it was reached, since the state weather service (Riigi ilmateenistus) has forecast highs of up to 35C daytime, though thunderstorms and even hail may hit eastern Estonia.

After a clear, but hot and humid, night saw in the longest day of the year, morning (Hommik) remains mostly clear, with isolated clouds on the west coast and islands, and southerly breezes of 2-8 m/s, in gusts up to 10 m/s, and temperatures of 23-25C.

Daytime (Päev) sees the mercury shoot up, to as high as 35C in the far southeast, and 32-34 in most of the rest of the country. Cloud cover will be extensive in the eastern two-thirds of the country, however, with thunderstorms likely in Lääne- and Ida-Viru counties and on the shores of Peipsi Järv (Lake Peipus). These may also bring hail, the weather service says, though wind speeds will remain moderate at 3-8 m/s, with stronger gusts.

In the west and islands, temperatures will be slightly lower, 30-31C, cloud cover thinner and winds slightly stronger (11 m/s).

Come the evening (Õhtul), cloud cover will thin out extensively and it will be largely clear. Tallinn will be warmest at 30C, the rest of the mainland 28-29C and the islands 26-27C. A southerly wind will reach speeds of 2-8 m/s.

Victory Day (Wednesday, June 23), Jaaniöö and Jaanipäev (midsummer – Thursday, June 24) are national holidays this week, but while the temperatures are forecast to remain quite high, they will steadily fall Tuesday to Thursday, reaching around 26C on midsummer's day. Thunderstorms and showers may blight celebrations somewhat, particularly in eastern and central Estonia, conditions that will remain Friday.

Unsurprisingly since it is a contiguous, neighboring state, Latvia has also reported record-breaking temperatures during the current heatwave, while Finland's meteorological stations reported temperatures up to 31C Sunday.

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