Pakistan, July 9 -- A brutal heatwave that gripped Western Europe late last month has resulted in an estimated 2,300 heat-related deaths across 12 major cities, according to a new rapid scientific analysis. Cities such as Madrid, London, Barcelona, and Milan were among the hardest hit during the 10-day period ending July 2, with Spain seeing temperatures above 40degC and wildfires flaring in parts of France.

Researchers from Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine linked 1,500 of the total deaths directly to climate change, which they say intensified the heatwave by pushing temperatures up to 4degC higher than normal. These findings underscore the deadly consequences of a warming planet, even in dev...