UK Government Must Prepare For Heat And Drought Far Beyond Existing Plans For Expected Extremes
Britain must prepare for global heating far in excess of the level scientists have pegged as the limit of safety, the government’s climate advisers have warned, as current plans to protect against extreme weather are inadequate.
Heatwaves will occur in at least four of every five years in England by 2050, and time spent in drought will double. The number of days of peak wildfire conditions in July will nearly treble for the UK, while floods will increase in frequency throughout the year, with some peak river flows increasing by 40%.
Campaigners warned that the impacts foreseen by the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) scientists would make the UK “look very different, very quickly”, within 25 years. Existing buildings and infrastructure should be upgraded to withstand temperatures of at least 2C higher than normal by 2050, instead of the 1.5C nations are hoping to keep as a limit, the committee said. Any new constructions intended to last decades should be prepared for 4C above preindustrial levels – a level at which the world will face global devastation.
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The CCC was responding to a request from Emma Hardy, minister for flooding in the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to set out guidelines the government could use to prepare for flooding and similar impacts. Parr said all government departments must take note. “This has implications right across government in health, housing, transport, and business, so No 10 must not make the error of leaving this to [Defra],” he said. “The Treasury must generate funds for the UK to adapt to the changing climate by taxing the fossil fuel companies who are making billions from ramping up the crisis – it’s the feasible and fair way to fund the protections we urgently need.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/15/uk-prepare-buildings-2c-rise-temperature