UK weather heats up as Europe smashes records: Live updates - CNN International

While temperatures around 100 degrees Fahrenheit might not seem high to hotter regions, they are way above seasonal averages for much of Europe.

Many European cities are not designed to deal with such temperatures. Air conditioning is less common and public transportation systems often struggle.

But this could be the new normal: climate scientists warn that these extreme heat waves are becoming more frequent and increasingly severe because of the climate crisis.

Climate scientists predicted that rising global temperatures caused by increases in greenhouse gas emissions from burning coal, oil and gas would contribute to more heat waves, according to Stefan Rahmstorf, a climatologist and professor at Germany's Potsdam University.

People cool off in fountains at Toldbod Plads in Aalborg, Denmark, on Wednesday.

France's meteorological body Météo-France echoed this link in June -- and warned that the number of extreme heat waves is expected to double by 2050.

Meanwhile, a group of European scientists concluded that the June heat wave had been made at least five times more likely because of climate change.

"It's important to stress the 'at least'. It's likely to be much higher but this is hard to quantify. Our best estimate is that it's 100 times more. We give the most conservative estimate," said Friederike Otto of Oxford University, who contributed to the research.

It's not just heat waves, and it's not just Europe.

Countries around the world are experiencing extreme weather catastrophes that threaten to render entire regions unliveable -- India is swinging between extreme drought and fatal flooding, 157 million Americans were gripped by a stifling heat wave last week, and the Arctic is facing "unprecedented' wildfires.

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