Vienna, Aug 28 (IANS): Austria has had the second-hottest summer since temperatures were first recorded in 1767, authorities said.

Temperatures were 2.5 degrees Celsius above the long-term average, second only to the summer of 2003 when temperatures were 2.8 degrees above the average. In some areas however even the 2003 records were topped, such as in the towns of St. Poelten and Linz, the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG) said in a press release on Thursday.

Also higher than usual were the number of extremely hot days, defined as measuring over 35 degrees, such as in the national capital Vienna, the 15 such days three times the number than were recorded during the previous record year of 2013, reported Xinhua citing the ZAMG.

This record was also broken in Linz, Eisenstadt, St. Poelten, and Bregenz.

The heat also brought with it extremely dry weather, with 20 percent below-average rainfall, in some areas up to 43 percent below average.

Sunshine was also recorded at 20 percent above the long-term average.