July may only be a few days away, but two record-breaking summer heatwaves have already given the UK and Europe a snapshot of their new climate.

Following on the heels of the May heat, June saw temperature records not only broken but shattered in what the UN weather agency called an “extraordinary” event across the continent.

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

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

“Human-induced climate change has made events like this more likely and more intense,” said Professor Stephen Belcher, chief scientist at the UK Met Office.

The intensity of these heatwaves is evident by how much above normal temperatures were in May and June on average across the UK, marked here in red.