Last week, it was 40.3 degrees and a heat record in the UK, while the temperature measured 37.2 degrees in Sweden. The extreme heat wave in Europe was likely caused by humans, according to a new research study from the World Weather Attribution.
Climate change caused by human activity made the probability of the heat wave last week ten times higher, the researchers say. In the study, they looked at average temperatures and the record heat in England and Wales on July 18 and 19, and examined how likely such an extreme weather condition would have been before the mid-19th century. Their models estimated that human emissions increased temperatures in the heat wave by between two and four degrees.
The study, which has not yet been published, also found that extreme weather events in Europe have increased more than estimated by climate models.
See more about the study in the player above.