‘Hotter and hotter and hotter’

We may only be a few days into July, but two record-breaking summer heatwaves have already given the UK and Europe a snapshot of their new climate.

In June, hot on the heels of the May heat, temperature records were not just broken but shattered in what the UN weather agency called an “extraordinary” continent-wide event.

After a short break, a new heat wave is coming.

If this sounds unusual, that’s because it is. But this is also the same thing that scientists predict in our warmer world, mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels and the release of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

“Human-caused climate change has made such events more likely and more intense,” said Prof Stephen Belcher, chief scientist at the UK Met Office.

The intensity of these heatwaves is clear from the extent to which temperatures were above normal across the UK in May and June, marked here in red.

While the June heat was strongest in southern England and south Wales, few areas were spared the heat.

Temperatures have peaked 37.7C in Lingwood, NorfolkAccording to provisional figures. It was one of the few stations to surpass the UK’s previous June high of 35.6C, set in 1957 and tied in 1976.

“It is sobering to see temperatures like these in the UK in June,” Belcher said.

Not every weather station has data going back to the infamous summer of 1976, but even some of the longest-running stations have seen their previous records broken by 2C or more.

“Normally we expect records to be broken by small amounts – a tenth, maybe a degree,” said Ed Hawkins, professor of climate science at the University of Reading.

“So it’s remarkable and extraordinary that it’s broken down in such a large amount, and of course that’s A similar incident occurred in May“

June’s heat wave may have been particularly sweltering because it brought a double whammy of high heat and humidity. High humidity means it becomes difficult for our bodies to cool down by sweating.

The weather remained very hot even after sunset, making it difficult to sleep. Our bodies need cooler night temperatures to recover from the heat of the day.

Temperatures did not fall below 23.5 degrees in Cardiff The night from Wednesday to Thursday, June 24 – The hottest June night ever recorded in the UK.

Most of England and Wales experienced at least one tropical night in June where temperatures did not fall below 20C. Historically, these were very rare in the UK.

“We certainly expect to see more tropical nights as global temperatures continue to rise,” said Hawkins.

The same “heat dome” that brought extraordinary heat to the UK in June also caused records to be broken in Europe.

German meteorological service Deutscher Wetterdienst described the event as “a heat wave that will be written in the history books.” French weather agency Météo-France described the incident as “extraordinary” and “historic”.

More than a dozen countries in western, central and eastern Europe broke June temperature records, with differences of up to two or three degrees between old and new highs.

Some countries experienced temperatures above 40C, setting a new record for any time of year despite June being generally colder than July.

France and Spain also recorded their warmest June days relative to the national average, although higher temperatures were previously reached at individual weather stations.

“This was clearly a very unusual situation compared to historical measurements,” said Sonia Seneviratne, a professor at the Institute of Atmospheric and Climate Science at ETH Zurich in Switzerland.

The alpine country reached 39C, beating the previous June record by more than 2C.

“[But] “As a climate scientist, I can say that I’m not that surprised that this is happening, knowing that we have a warming climate,” he added.

Global temperatures have been rising in the last century due to humanity’s greenhouse gas emissionsBut local or regional geography shapes the rate at which different places are warming.

As Europe warms particularly rapidly, it is more exposed to the frequent and powerful effects of extreme heat.

Europe’s rapid warming is partly a result of melting shiny snow and ice and a decrease in the number of small polluting particles in the air. This means less of the Sun’s energy will be reflected back into space, leaving more energy to warm the Earth’s surface.

Some scientists also argue that the warming climate may change atmospheric circulation patterns across Europe to introduce more high-pressure systems that could lead to heat waves, but this is not certain.

Europe’s seas are exceptionally warm this summer too. Marine heatwave conditions along the UK coast have strengthened, partly due to last week’s record-breaking temperatures.

However, since water takes longer to cool than air, sea heat may last longer. This could help intensify future land heat waves by reducing the cooling effect of sea breezes.

Scientists are confident that climate change is already making hot spells, such as the June heat wave, significantly warmer than the same weather systems in the past.

“The only way to explain [such strong heatwaves] is to take this into consideration [long-term] “It’s getting warmer,” Seneviratne said.

“When you have a high-pressure system, that heat wave will tend to be a lot hotter. 1783139446. That’s very well understood.”

Scientists warn that future warm spells could reach even higher temperatures as average temperatures continue to rise.

Just a few decades ago, it was a relatively rare event for the UK to reach 30°C in June. Now this has become the norm.

The long-term warming trend in the UK and Europe does not mean that the next heatwave will be hotter than the last, or that next summer will necessarily be hotter than this one.

But scientists warn that summer months in the UK and Europe will inevitably continue to get warmer on average as carbon emissions continue to warm the planet.

“Our heatwaves will get hotter and hotter until we reach global net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.” [and] We are stabilizing the climate,” said Hawkins.

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