Weird weather: Why we’re chilly as rest of Europe bakes

Unlikely as it sounds, both weather events are connected. Our continent is trapped in a period of ‘blocked weather’ and while it is bringing temperatures into the 40s in Italy and Spain, we are suffering sunshine and showers.

Much as we like a hot summer, we are currently the lucky ones.

It isn’t just Europe that is suffering from severe heat. In terms of weather, the extraordinary is now becoming worryingly routine.

Death Valley on California’s border with Nevada is approaching its highest ever temperature, with 53.33C (128F) at the aptly-named Furnace Creek. Las Vegas has also faced the possibility of reaching an all-time record temperature and wildfires in Canada have led to air quality alerts in several US states, stretching from Montana to Ohio.

The hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth was 56.67C (134F) in July 1913 at Furnace Creek, according to an official at the World Meteorological Organisation. Temperatures at or above 54.44C (130F) have only been recorded on Earth a handful of times, mostly in Death Valley.

“With global warming, such temperatures are becoming more and more likely to occur,” the World Meteorological Organisation said.

“Long-term, global warming is causing higher and more frequent temperature extremes. Short-term, this particular week is being driven by a very very strong upper-level ridge of high pressure over the Western US.”

In Europe, a shift in the jet stream has had a profound effect.