Deadly heat wave grips Europe with red alerts and scorching records

In Britain, many older homes were built with thick walls, small windows and insulation designed to retain heat during long winters.

“It’s almost like you can’t escape the heat,” said Stefan Cretu, a 22-year-old financial analyst in London. “It’s hot outside, and somehow it’s even hotter inside — my house feels like a trap.”

That stands in contrast to many parts of the United States, where air conditioning is widespread, and modern cooling systems and building designs intended to manage extreme summer temperatures are in place.

The daily commute is another challenge for Londoners.

“It’s sweaty, crowded and suffocating,” Cretu said of traveling on London’s Underground network, much of which lacks air conditioning. Delays were widespread Tuesday.

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures rising roughly twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

While governments face pressure to invest in adaptation measures, from cooling centers to heat-resilient infrastructure, experts warn that such steps risk addressing the symptoms rather than the cause.

“The real way to stop heatwaves becoming increasingly severe is to tackle climate change itself,” Brousse said.

Without that, “there is only so much we can do.”