Areas of Europe home to at least 92 million people -- particularly in France, Italy, and Spain -- are set for temperatures over 35C on Wednesday in the continent's latest heatwave, according to AFP calculations.
Europe is the planet's fastest-warming continent and in some places is ill-equipped to deal with hot weather. Repeated heatwaves and drought have fuelled a historically hot summer of wildfires, and contributed to the deaths of thousands of people so far.
Scientists have shown that recurring heatwaves are a clear marker of global warming, primarily caused by burning coal, oil and gas -- and warn they are set to become more frequent, longer and more intense.
Temperatures are set to surpass 30C for nearly three out of five European residents (excluding Turkey) -- amounting to around 340 million people --according to an analysis based on German weather service forecasts and 2025 population projections from the Joint Research Centre.
AFP's findings are consistent with those of Austrian NGO Klimadashboard.
