<span style="color: #222222;">Dozens of people have died in Canada amid an unprecedented heatwave that has smashed temperature records.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Police in the Vancouver area have responded to more than 130 sudden deaths since Friday.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Most were elderly or had underlying health conditions, with heat often a contributing factor.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Canada broke its temperature record for a third straight day yesterday, 49.6 degree Celsius in Lytton, British Columbia.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The US north-west has also seen record highs, and a number of fatalities.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Experts say climate change is expected to increase the frequency of extreme weather events, such as heatwaves.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">However, linking any single event to global warming is complicated.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The heat over western parts of Canada and the US has been caused by a dome of static high-pressure hot air stretching from California to the Arctic territories.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Temperatures have been easing in coastal areas but there is little immediate respite for inland regions.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Before Sunday, temperatures in Canada had never passed 45 degrees.</span><br />