Scientists warn climate change drove July's deadly European flooding

People's homes lay destroyed after flood water ripped through the village near the river Ahr, in Mayschoß, Germany, Wednesday July 28, 2021. Picture: Thomas Frey/dpa via AP

Climate change has made the kind of heavy rainstorms that drove deadly flooding in Europe last month more likely, scientists have warned.

Researchers found that extreme rainfall events similar to those which led to severe flooding in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg are between 1.2 and nine times more likely to happen because of global warming.