Costs of climate emergencies 'devastating'

LONDON'S emergency services have spent over £11 million responding to wildfires and flooding alone since 2018, new figures have revealed.

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The capital has seen 808 wildfires rage in the last seven years, costing the London Fire Brigade (LFB) more than £5.4million to respond to. This year alone, there have been 121 wildfire incidents, prompting the LFB to deploy 4,022 personnel in response and costing £766,000.

Meanwhile, the cost of tackling floods since 2018 reached £5.86 million this year, including £557,883 for 195 incidents in 2025 alone. The figures, obtained by London Assembly Member Leonie Cooper via written questions to the Mayor of London, have sparked calls for increased investment in the city’s climate resilience.

In August the Mayor of London said climate change was having a “devastating impact on our environment” and that raging wildfires were no longer a “faraway issue” but on the capital's “doorstep”.

Ms Cooper, the Labour Group's Environment spokesperson on the London Assembly, said: “This is not a warning of what climate change might do; this is what it is doing to London today.

“We are spending millions of pounds and deploying thousands of frontline staff just to keep Londoners safe from extreme heat and flooding, that is now happening every year.