Western and central Europe is experiencing its hottest and most humid heatwave on record this week, with temperatures that would have been virtually impossible without climate change. The event, running from 26 to 28 June, is expected to cause thousands of deaths.
A study by the World Weather Attribution network found that global warming is responsible for the extreme conditions. Fifty years ago, a typical June heatwave would have been about 3.5°C cooler, making current temperatures a less than one-in-10,000-year occurrence.
Daytime temperatures have exceeded 44°C in parts of France, while nighttime lows have stayed above 30°C in Spain. Humidity levels have reached more than 50 per cent in many British cities, with dew-point temperatures in the low 20s.
Theodore Keeping of Imperial College London said at a media briefing on 25 June that the event would not have been possible without climate change. Friederike Otto, also at Imperial, highlighted how the impacts fall hardest on vulnerable groups such as older people, migrants and the homeless.
Researchers stressed that heatwaves will grow more intense unless fossil fuel emissions are cut rapidly. Europe remains unprepared, with only 5 per cent of UK homes having air conditioning.
