The brutal heatwave that baked Europe from Portugal to Poland was made more likely to happen by Global Warming caused by human activity, according to climate scientists.

Local temperature records were broken in France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Spain.  And the continent's highest temperature - 45.9 C degrees - was registered near the city of Nimes in France.  Bushfires raged in Spain and Germany.  The number of premature deaths caused by the intense heat will take some time to compile, but a similar heatwave in 2003 caused more than 70,000 premature deaths across Europe. 

But this heatwave is hitting earlier in the year than normal, it is one of several that are occurring more frequently than in years past, and heatwaves are also about 4 C hotter than they were a century ago.  

"This is a strong reminder again that climate change is happening here and now," said Friederike Ott, of the University of Oxford, one of the scientists behind the new analysis.  "It is not a problem for our kids only."

Another team member suggested that intense heatwaves in June could be the new normal, even if all the nations of the earth stick to the Paris Climate Accord which seeks to arrest global warming at 2 C Degrees about pro-industrial levels.