Air conditioning push favoured over emissions cuts in five European nations, survey finds

Poll also finds sizeable majorities who believe it should be easier to install air con in homes

Given the choice, more people across five major European nations including the UK favour encouraging the adoption of air conditioning over keeping carbon emissions down, a survey has found.

After four extreme heatwaves that have caused thousands of excess deaths across the continent, the survey showed between 30% and 52% of people in six countries had feared for their household's health in temperatures close to or above 40C (104F).