At the end of June, record-breaking heatwaves arrived in Poland, bringing unprecedented temperatures. The hottest day turned out to be June 28, when thermometers in Słubice showed as much as 40.5 degrees Celsius, officially breaking the absolute heat record in the country's history.

Such extreme heat was caused by a specific arrangement of a strong high-pressure system over Eastern Europe and low-pressure systems over the Atlantic. These two systems worked together, generating southerly winds and drawing hot, tropical air from North Africa directly over Poland.

In this African climate, storks had to cope in completely exposed nests. Since birds do not sweat, they developed other clever ways to cool down. One of them is defecating on their own legs, as the evaporating water quickly cools the blood in their limbs, causing storks' legs to turn white during heatwaves. Adult birds also cooled themselves by rapid breathing through an open beak, which can often be observed on the hottest days.