premise: The hottest month According to the Met Office, the UK had its warmest July day ever on July 1, when temperatures hit 36.7 C near London. There were record heat waves in many countries including Spain, while the African continent had the second-warmest July on record. While the impact of increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is a key driver of rising temperatures, another important factor is El Nino. This natural phenomenon, which appears as a large swathe of warm water in the Pacific every few years, is known to push up global temperatures. In recent days there have been reports that this year's El Nino will be particularly intense. As a result, many experts believe that 2015 will be the warmest year on record by some margin. The seas have also been soaking up a large amount of heat, the NOAA said, with record warming in large expanses of the Pacific and Indian Oceans Peter Stott, head of climate monitoring and attribution at the UK Met Office, said: "A strong El Nino is under way in the tropical Pacific and this, combined with the long-term global warming trend, means there is the potential to see some very warm months throughout this year - as the new figures for July appear to show.
hypothesis: Africa had the warmest July day ever on July 1.