Many Argentines only have to jump into the sea, into the Río Paraná or another body of water to escape the heat.

For days, the country, like Uruguay, Paraguay and southern Brazil, has been suffering from an extreme heat wave, which is currently making the region one of the hottest places in the world.

In the past few days, record temperatures of up to 45 degrees have been measured at several Argentine measuring stations.

The National Meteorological Service (SMN) has declared the highest warning level for people with health risks in some provinces.

In the capital Buenos Aires, the thermometer rose to 41.1 degrees on Tuesday.

Since the start of measurements in 1906, a higher temperature was registered for the first time.

Cooling down is expected on Sunday at the earliest.

Tjerk Brühwiller

Correspondent for Latin America based in São Paulo.

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The high temperatures caused an abrupt increase in energy consumption.

This has led to several malfunctions and failures in the past few days.

On Tuesday around 700,000 people in the greater Buenos Aires area were without electricity - and thus without fans and air conditioning.

There were also isolated failures on Wednesday.

Not only the high demand affects the power supply, but also the low production.

Last year was one of the driest in decades.

The levels of the rivers that are important for electricity production have reached historic lows.

The Río Paraná, South America's second largest river, is at its lowest level since 1945.

According to meteorologists, the extreme heat wave is the result of a combined weather phenomenon.

Hot air masses hold between Argentina and Brazil.

A high pressure area prevents the formation of fog and clouds, which in turn favors the build-up of heat.

The already prevailing drought is driving the spiral of heat and drought even further.

The current weather situation is not only having a negative impact in the south of the continent.

The hot and dry air masses over Argentina, which are also very static, prevent the advance of humid air masses from the north.

Warning from meteorologists

This "blockade" has already built up over the past few weeks and has led to above-average heavy rainfall and flooding in parts of Brazil. Also these days, meteorologists are warning of heavy rainfall and the risk of landslides in various parts of Brazil.

Meanwhile, the risk of forest fires increases in hot areas. Uruguay was hit by the biggest forest fire in its history in the first few days of the year. In the west of the country, 37,000 hectares of forest fell victim to the flames. There have also been a few fires in Argentina in recent months. The drought and heat wave have now caused the government to declare a state of fire emergency across the territory for a period of one year in order to take the necessary measures to be as prepared as possible for further fires, to prevent new outbreaks and destroyed areas restore.

The affected countries are also very concerned about agriculture.

The region already suffered significant crop failures due to the drought last year.

The extreme heat wave could exacerbate the situation.

In Argentina, rainfall in 2021 was well below the average.

The drought hits the country's soy chamber most of all.

Exports are also significantly affected.

The low level of the Río Paraná makes it difficult to export Argentine soy and other products from the inland port in Rosario, where around 80 percent of the country's agricultural exports are shipped.