CLIMATE change made the ongoing heatwave gripping much of northern Europe more than twice as likely to occur, scientists have said.

An initial assessment of the prolonged spell of hot weather suggests rising temperatures caused by human activity increased the odds of it happening.

Researchers from the World Weather Attribution network said such events will become “even less exceptional” as global temperatures continue to increase.

The team used modelling to compare the likelihood of the heatwave in today’s world with the chances of it occurring in a world without the climate change caused by humans. Extreme heat has been seen in the northern hemisphere in recent months, with temperatures exceeding 30C (86F) in the Arctic Circle.

Dr Friederike Otto, deputy director of the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford, said: “The logic that climate change will do this is inescapable - the world is becoming warmer, and so heatwaves like this are becoming more common.

“What was once regarded as unusually warm weather will become commonplace - in some cases, it already has.

“So this is something that society can and should prepare for - but equally there is no doubt that we can and should constrain the increasing likelihood of all kinds of extreme weather events by restricting greenhouse gas emissions as sharply as possible.”

Because extreme weather events are unique it is not possible to say that climate change caused them, the scientists said; however, it is possible to say whether it increased or decreased the likelihood them happening.

The findings are preliminary, based on calculations before the end of the heatwave, with the final results expected at the end of the summer.