Europe bakes under record heat as climate change drives the heatwave

A sweeping European heat wave shattered temperature records from the United Kingdom to Italy and across Switzerland and the Czech Republic, prompting health officials to warn of heat-related risks, postponements of events in Paris, and hospital capacity concerns. A World Weather Attribution study ties the extreme heat to climate change, saying it would have been virtually impossible five decades ago and is now far more likely. While authorities expect deaths to trail the 2003 disaster, they warn the ongoing heat still threatens vulnerable populations as temperatures stay high, including a UK record June high of 37.3 C.