What's making Europe's heatwave so severe?
Live Events An unusual heatwave 1. Timing 2. Severity What caused it? How are people coping? as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Addas a
Live Events An unusual heatwave 1. Timing 2. Severity What caused it? How are people coping? as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Addas a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Melbourne: Sweltering temperatures are shattering records across Europe, as the continent battles a deadly heatwave.On Tuesday and Wednesday, France endured its hottest days in history, with western regions reaching highs of between 39°C and 43°C.Wednesday was the United Kingdom's warmest June day on record, with the mercury climbing to 36.1°C. And according to early data, Spain, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland have all broken June temperature records at several sites. And the event is not over yet.Tragically, lives have already been lost, including dozens of people who have drowned in France in the past week, while trying to cool down in the punishing heat.But this historic heatwave is not happening in isolation. It comes days after the global sea surface temperature again reached record levels.Meanwhile, Australia's weather bureau has declared El Nino active, making a hotter, drier year in Australia, Asia and the South Pacific much more likely. And since April, India and Pakistan have been battling a sustained and ultimately deadly heatwave.So what's driving this latest heatwave? And why is it so severe?A heatwave occurs when the average temperature is unusually hot for three or more days in a row.
That's compared to past weather data taken from the same location.But scientists are losing sleep over the current European heatwave, for two main reasons.In Europe, the hottest time of year comes in mid- to late July, about a month after the summer solstice. However, recent research suggests days of intense heat stress are now starting to arrive in June. Since 1950, only one other major heatwave has arrived earlier than the current heatwave, which is unfolding weeks before the peak of the European summer.Current evidence shows climate change is making heatwaves more frequent and intense. One study examined the heatwave that hit southeast England in June 2025. It found that without the effect of human-made greenhouse gas emissions, such a heatwave would only happen once every 50 years. But when the researchers accounted for the temperature increase of 1.3°C caused by human-induced climate change, this became at least once every five years.In a world without climate change, this extreme heatwave would rarely if ever happen so early in the year. And it also would not be toppling temperature records, and by such staggering amounts.Tuesday and Wednesday were France's hottest days since records began in 1947, with an average temperature of 29.9°C across the country. On Tuesday, 147 French towns hit all-time highs for June, with 41 local weather stations recording figures above 43°C.France also slept through its warmest night ever from Tuesday into Wednesday, with a national average temperature of 21.6°C.
The BriefWire