Climate change made this year鈥檚 northern hemisphere summer heatwave around 30 times more likely than it would be under natural conditions, the UK鈥檚 Met Office has said.
This summer was the equal warmest in a series dating back to 1910, along with 2006, 2003 and 1976, with temperatures reaching a peak on 27 July when 35.6掳C聽 was recorded at Felsham, Suffolk.
The UK now has around a 12 per cent chance of summer average temperatures being as high as they were in 2018, whereas they would have less than 0.5 per cent chance of happening in a 鈥渘atural鈥� climate, the Met Office said.
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The study comes after climate projections published last week in which the Met Office said that, by mid century, there will be a 50 per cent chance of summers as hot as 2018鈥檚 heatwave, making the sweltering conditions the norm.
Soaring summer temperatures and dry weather this year hit crops and livestock, affected water supplies, transport networks, people鈥檚 health and the natural environment, and led to numerous wildfires.
鈥淥ur provisional study compared computer models based on today鈥檚 climate with those of the natural climate we would have had without human-induced emissions,鈥� said the Met Office鈥檚 Peter Stott. 鈥淭his rapidly increasing chance results from the increase in concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.鈥�
The Met Office is announcing the findings at the UN climate talks in Poland, where countries are meeting to finalise the rules of how the Paris Agreement on tackling global warming will work and to build momentum towards increasing ambition on efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
