‘Warmer and hotter and hotter’ – Europe’s new climate in seven charts

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.

June’s record high May temperatures are not only broken, but broken, in what the UN Climate Agency has called an “extraordinary” event on the continent.

And after a short break, another heat wave is on the way.

If this sounds unusual, it is because it is. But it’s mainly because of fossil fuels that release greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, scientists predict.

Professor Stephen Belcher, chief scientist at the UK’s Met Office, said: “Human-induced climate change has made such events more likely and more severe.”

The intensity of these heatwaves is reflected in how much above normal temperatures in May and June were in the UK.