June 26, 2026
The record-breaking heatwave engulfing Western Europe would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change, which has made this week's soaring night-time temperatures 100 times more likely than they would have been just two decades ago, scientists said on Friday.
"Over the region studied, this heatwave is the most severe ever recorded," the World Weather Attribution group of climate scientists said in an analysis.
Britain recorded a record-high temperature for June on Thursday, amid the deadly heatwave that has killed dozens, disrupted power supplies and shut schools and cultural landmarks.
Global warming has worsened Europe's heatwaves in just a few decades, the WWA analysis found. A similar heatwave in June 1976 would have been around 3.5 degrees Celsius cooler than this one, WWA said.
