UK unprepared for coming climate 'disaster' – warning

THE UK Government is failing to prepare the UK for “tomorrow’s disaster” of floods, heatwaves, drought and wildfires, its climate advisers have warned.

- EMILY BEAMENT

The independent advisory Climate Change Committee also raised fears spending needed to protect communities and critical services such as the NHS from worsening weather extremes could be cut in the summer spending review.

In a new report on adaptation - helping the UK cope with the already inevitable impacts of climate change - the committee warned there had been no improvement since its last assessment in 2023, and accused the new government of failing to deliver the change in approach needed.

The report warns 6.3 million homes and properties in England are currently at risk of flooding, which is set to rise to eight million - one in four - by 2050, while early deaths from heatwaves are projected to rise from the 3,000 seen in 2022's record hot summer to 10,000 a year by mid-century.

Without action on climate change, the UK will suffer a 7% hit to its economic output by 2050, while rising sea levels are worsening coastal flooding and extreme temperatures and drought drive an increased number of wildfires. Already, half the UK’s prime agricultural farmland is at risk of flooding, which is set to worsen, while schools, hospitals and care homes are among the most vulnerable to impacts such as heatwaves, the committee warned.

The committee's chairwoman, Baroness Brown, pointed to 2022's heatwave, when temperatures topped 40C for the first time ever, which in addition to thousands of deaths put huge pressure on emergency services and halted operations in hospitals.