Europe's latest heat wave 'most severe' ever recorded, study finds

Europe's latest heat wave, which has brought red alerts to several countries throughout the week, is the "most severe" ever recorded in the region and was made significantly more likely and intense by fossil fuel-driven climate change, according to a report published Friday by World Weather Attribution (WWA).

The study found that temperatures would have been virtually impossible 50 years ago and far less likely even during previous record-breaking heat waves.

"In 1976, when some of the previous European records were set, the 2026 temperatures would have been virtually impossible to occur in June, while also highly unlikely at any time of the year,” it said.

“In 2003, the first major heatwave of this century, daytime heat like this would still have been very rare, about 10 times less likely than today,” it added.

Researchers also found that nighttime temperatures recorded during this heat wave would have been more than 100 times less likely in 2003.

It said that many European capitals experienced their hottest three-day period in June and their hottest three-day spell since 1950, warning that such extremes are becoming increasingly common as the climate warms.

"Across large parts of Western Europe, June is warming faster than any other month,” the report added.

WWA said the hottest daytime temperatures across large parts of Western Europe are now warming at around three times the global average rate, while nighttime temperatures are warming at about twice the global average.

"A rapid phase-out of fossil fuels is critical if we are to avoid even higher temperatures and their consequences in the future," it said. “Extreme heat is already reaching the limits of our societies’ ability to cope.”

The findings are based on a study by researchers from Sweden, Denmark, the United States, the Netherlands, Ireland and the United Kingdom, who assessed how human-induced climate change affected the likelihood and intensity of the extreme heat across Western Europe.

The analysis focused on the three hottest days and nights in the most severely affected areas, as well as conditions in 19 European capitals