Europe has been hit by a searing heatwave, which has shattered temperature records across France, Spain and the UK.

In London, for example, the mercury hit a record high for May of 35.1C at Kew Gardens on Tuesday 26 May, breaking the former record-high May temperature by more than 2C.

Multiple people have died as a result of the high temperatures, including 14 people across the UK and France who drowned.

The heatwave was driven by a “heat dome”, in which warm air moving up from northern Africa has become trapped under a high-pressure system over western Europe.

Experts have been quick to point out the link between extreme heat and global warming, with one saying it was “beyond a shadow of a doubt” that climate change was making such events “more likely and more severe”.