Europe's latest spell of sizzling heat, which ended last week, caused a threefold rise in heat-related deaths because human-induced climate change boosted the intensity of the heat wave, British scientists said.

Around 2,300 people died of heat-related causes across 12 European cities during the severe heatwave that ended last week, according to an analysis.

Scientists at Imperial and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine used peer-reviewed techniques to calculate that about 2,300 people in 12 cities likely died from the heat in last week’s bout of high temperatures, with nearly two-thirds of them dying because of the extra degrees that climate change added to the natural summer warmth.