UK 32°C heatwave 100 times more likely due to climate change, scientists warn

A 32°C heatwave expected to grip England has been made a 100 times more likely by human-caused climate change, according to a rapid scientific analysis released Thursday.

The sweltering 32°C temperatures forecast for parts of England this week would have been an extremely rare event before widespread fossil fuel use, occurring only once every 2,500 years, but now such heatwaves strike roughly every five years due to global warming, according to scientists.

The World Weather Attribution (WWA) - a coalition of climate scientists who analyze the influence of global warming on extreme weather events - said that the growing frequency of such heat in June is directly tied to human-induced climate change.

The team said the Earth’s average temperature is now about 1.3°C above pre-industrial levels, and the UK is seeing the consequences.

The WWA warned that despite the growing threat of extreme heat, the UK remains poorly adapted to deal with it—especially regarding public health impacts.

“It is totally insane we have political leaders in the UK trying to drag us back to the past with calls for more fossil fuels,” said Dr Friederike Otto, a co-author of the report and associate professor in climate science at Imperial College London.

“The climate will continue to drive increasingly dangerous heatwaves, fires, and floods in the UK until emissions are reduced to net zero globally,.” Otto said.

The WWA's rapid assessment follows a Met Office report released Wednesday, which found that the UK’s risk of experiencing 40°C days has risen sharply—now more than 20 times more likely than in the 1960s.

Scientists and environmental groups have called for urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and boost heatwave preparedness measures across the UK.

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