Europe is sweltering amid a heat wave that's overheating bodies and breaking records, with the AP reporting that people were cooling off in any handy body of water including public fountains and the sea. The Guardian reports that the Netherlands and Belgium both broke all-time heat records in what it calls "the second extreme heatwave in consecutive months to be linked by scientists to the climate emergency." A look around the hellscape:
- The cause: An "omega block," per the Guardian. Basically, a high-pressure system that blocks the jet stream and lets a bunch of hot air blow north into Europe from Northern Africa. The same phenomenon just gave Europe its hottest June on record.