'Hotter and hotter and hotter' - Europe's new climate in seven charts - BBC News

Temperature records were smashed in June - and scientists warn this is a sign of things to come. 

Image source, Tino Romano / EPAImage caption, Outdoor workers can be particularly vulnerable to the effects of extreme heat, such as that seen in the UK and Europe last month

We might only be a few days into July, but two record-breaking summer heatwaves have already provided the UK and Europe with a snapshot of their new climate.

Hot on the heels of May's heat, June saw temperature records not only broken but smashed in what the UN's weather agency called an "extraordinary" event across the continent.

And after a brief period of respite, another heatwave is on the way.

If this feels unusual, that is because it is. But it is also exactly what scientists predicted in our warmer world, driven primarily by the burning of fossil fuels releasing heat-trapping greenhouse gases into our atmosphere.