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.

Humanity’s burning of fossil fuels directly led to the deaths of at least 1,500 people in a European heatwave last week, a landmark study said.

Researchers said they believe that human-driven climate change probably intensified the recent European heat wave and increased the number of heat-related deaths.