What's causing Europe's heatwave? Scientists reveal what's behind the scorching temperatures
A deadly heatwave dubbed Cerberus is sweeping across Europe, forcing cities including Rome, Bologna and Florence to issue red alert warnings due to 'unbearable' temperatures that are set to intensify even further. Temperatures are expected to surpass 40C in parts of Spain, , , Croatia and Turkey, while could see temperatures reach a staggering 48.8C. But what is causing this heatwave across the continent, and why isn't the UK experiencing the same high temperatures? MailOnline spoke to experts, who explained that the scorching temperatures are being driven by three key factors - El Nino, a stationary high-pressure system also known as an anticyclone, and . 'Europe is not particularly affected by El Nino events directly, therefore it is likely the high-pressure system and climate change that are the main contributors to this heatwave event,' said Dr Melissa Lazenby, a lecturer in Climate Change at the University of Sussex. The heatwave is currently sweeping across parts of southern Europe and north-west Africa. Today, Athens and Madrid are among numerous cities baking in temperatures above 30C - peaking at 37C in the Greek capital and 35C in the Spanish city. Health officials have also issued red alerts for ten major cities in Italy, including Florence and Rome. While temperatures will sit around 32C for these cities today, the Met Office expects temperatures to rocket to more than 40C next Tuesday. But the Italian islands of Sardinia and Sicily will bear the brunt of this heat, as the claims temperatures peak at 48.8C. Italy's warnings suggest the heat is so intense that entire cities should take caution and not just vulnerable groups. The heatwave has already proved fatal, with a while working outside in Lodi, near Milan. It has been named Cerberus after the three-headed monster that features in Dante's inferno. Dr Lazenby explained that it is largely being driven by a high-pressure system known as an anticyclone. 'The current European Heatwave is being driven by stable atmospheric conditions from a stationary high pressures feature,' she explained. 'It is not possible to determine all the drivers and their exact contributions to the current heatwave in Europe, only a full attribution study after the event will illustrate the exact drivers and their proportion of impact on the event.' Experts say that climate change is undoubtedly a 'critical driver' behind Europe's heatwave. Dr Leslie Mabon, Lecturer in Environmental Systems at The Open University, said: 'We can be in absolutely no doubt that a critical driver behind this warming trend is carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. 'Until we rapidly reduce emissions from fossil fuels, extremes like the heatwave we are seeing in Europe at the moment are going to become more and more likely.' Europe's climate monitoring service, Copernicus, has also flagged that a large Saharan dust cloud is heading towards southern Europe. However, this is unlikely to contribute to the heatwave, according to Dr Chloe Brimicombe, a Climate Scientist and Extreme Heat Researcher at the University of Graz. 'The Saharan dust presents more of a potential health challenge for southern Europe - increasing dust content and pollution,' she explained. While much of the continent is sweltering, the UK is not experiencing the same high temperatures. Rebekah Sherwin, an Expert Meteorologist from the Met Office's global forecasting team, added: 'The southern shift of the Jet Stream that has pushed the high pressure southwards across this region has also led to low pressure systems being directed into the UK, bringing more unsettled and cooler weather here than we experienced in June when the Jet stream was at a more northerly latitude.' Last year, Europe suffered the hottest summer on record, killing more than 61,000 across the continent and nearly 3,500 in the UK. Blistering temperatures largely peaked between July 18 to 24, but hot weather persisted throughout August. While Cerberus is forecast to last for around two weeks, this might not spell the end for Europe's weather troubles. The World Meteorological Organisation warns there is a 90 per cent probability that El Nino will last until the end of the year. This may indicate that warmer temperatures will once again persist for longer, with El Nino considered to be a driving factor behind Cerberus. News of this also comes just after Copernicus revealed that last month was the hottest June ever in global records. Carlo Cacciamani, head of Italy's national meteorological and climatology agency, stressed to : 'This is happening more frequently and means we see temperatures around 40C instead of the normal 30-31C.'