Europe is experiencing one of the strongest June heatwaves in recorded history, reports Oxu.Az.
According to Dr. Theodore Kipping, an extreme weather researcher at Imperial College London, without climate change, June temperatures would have been about 3-5°C cooler. Such heat was impossible half a century ago.
The World Meteorological Service analyzed the three hottest days from June 22-29 across Western and Central Europe. The analysis shows that in 45% of 854 cities, heat stress records have been broken or are expected to break.
Temperatures in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and southern England were 5-12°C above seasonal averages. Record June temperatures were also recorded in other parts of the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, and the Czech Republic.
Researchers link the extreme heat to a "heat dome"—a stable atmospheric structure that traps heat. The heat originates in North Africa and moves north, accumulating over the European continent, turning it into a hot and stuffy greenhouse.
