Why is it so hot in Europe right now? Experts explain the killer heatwave

An ‘unprecedented’ heatwave is sweeping across Europe and is expected to last for weeks, continuing well into August.

After days of sweating through Cerberus, people in southern Europe were beginning to feel the effects of its scorching successor Charon yesterday.

But why is it so hot in Europe all of a sudden?

The record-breaking heat worldwide has been blamed on the return of the El Niño climate phenomenon. The last time a major El Niño swept across the Earth was in 2016, which was the hottest year in history.

However, experts believe a combination of climate change, El Niño and a stationary high-pressure system also known as an anticyclone has caused this year’s scorcher.

‘Europe is not particularly affected by El Niño events directly, therefore it is likely the high-pressure system and climate change are the main contributors to this heatwave event,’ said Dr Melissa Lazenby, lecturer in climate change at the University of Sussex.

If you’re wondering why the UK is not experiencing the same high temperatures as the rest of Europe at the moment, it’s mainly because the high-pressure system is situated further south and does not cover the UK.

Instead, the country is experiencing higher winds which are not associated with the high-pressure system and therefore not conducive fot a heatwave.

‘It’s possible this year’s heatwave is more intense because of a drier spring in the region,’ said Dr Chloe Brimicombe, climate scientist and heatwave researcher University of Graz, Austria.

Studies show that Europe has been warming much faster than other continents in recent decades, especially in northwest Europe – including the UK.

While it is difficult to pinpoint a single reason for this, experts agree that human activity is a significant factor.

‘We can be in absolutely no doubt that a critical driver behind this warming trend is carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels,’ said Dr Leslie Mabon, lecturer in environmental systems at The Open University.

The solution quoted by all researchers was to ‘rapidly reduce emissions from fossil fuels’.

If not, extreme events like the current European heatwave are going to become more likely.

‘As we get to higher degrees of warming, the danger of feedback loops or unexpected events occurring becomes greater. This is why we need to urgently reduce emissions from fossil fuels and limit the extent of global heating at all costs,’ said Dr Mabon.

‘With climate change they [heatwaves] are more likely to become more and more intense with an increase in baseline temperatures. We cannot reverse this trend, we can only stop it getting more intense. That’s what net zero is about,’ said Dr Brimicombe.

She added that – in addition to governments – corporations and billionaires need to ‘urgently’ reduce their emissions. 

The experts agree that, unless we bring down global temperatures, the future is looking bleak.

‘We can expect more heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and storms including flooding as a result of climate change in Europe and the UK going forward,’ said Dr Brimicombe.

‘This is bound to put pressure on infrastructure and threaten our food security.’

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