UK heatwave has ‘fingerprints of climate change all over it’

The UK’s current record-breaking heatwave “has the fingerprints of climate change all over it”, a leading climate scientist has said IndependentWhile he warned that the UK government must do much more to adapt to the new reality.

The UK is currently experiencing a fifth consecutive day of rising temperatures; The 35C temperature recorded at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday broke the May temperature record for the second time in two days.

According to the Met Office, temperature records were broken in areas from Suffolk to Berkshire and Warwickshire; The temperature of 34.8C recorded at Kew Gardens in London on Monday broke the old May record of 32.8C, set in 1922, by a whopping two degrees. This record was later broken on Tuesday.

Severe temperatures in the UK also meant London would be hotter than temperatures set in Lagos, Cairo or Ho Chi Minh City, according to initial forecasts.

Friederike Otto, professor of climate science at Imperial College London, said: Independent These “surprising” spring temperatures highlight how the climate crisis is now seriously interfering with our weather patterns.

“This record-breaking heat has traces of climate change all over it,” he said. “It’s absolutely surprising to see 35 degrees in the UK in spring, but the science is clear – climate change is making these heatwaves hotter, longer and much more frequent.

“The climate we live in today is certainly not the climate we grew up in, and our buildings and infrastructure are woefully unprepared for the future… [and] “Temperature records will continue to fall until we fundamentally stop global emissions and reach net zero.”

Professor Otto’s warning comes just a week after the UK government was warned at a meeting. important new report Not enough is being done to help the country adapt to the growing climate crisis.

Findings from the government advisory body the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) include warnings that more than nine in 10 homes are not insulated well enough to keep heat out and a shortfall of five billion liters of daily water supply is expected by 2050.

International climate action since 2015 Paris Agreement Projected future warming is decreasing, but the world is still not progressing towards the key global climate goal of keeping the average global temperature increase below 2°C, and warming of up to 4°C is a possibility, the CCC said.

The CCC added that even 2 degrees of global warming by 2050 would mean hotter, longer heatwaves, with temperatures “regularly” exceeding 40 degrees in parts of the UK. The global average temperature has so far increased by just over 1.3 degrees since pre-industrial times.

When temperatures in England exceeded 40°C for the first time in July 2022, an estimated 3,000 people died, Network Rail issued a “do not travel” warning and thousands of homes in the north of the country suffered power cuts.

The CCC said around £11bn a year is now needed to be invested in adapting to the climate crisis, including controlling temperatures in hospitals and care homes, strengthening our supply chains and improving the resilience of our food systems.

Gareth Redmond-King, of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said: “I don’t want anyone enjoying the sun to have rain on their parade, but we have to recognize that what we are experiencing at the moment is extreme weather.”

“This is very dangerous and will probably kill people because we know that excess mortality increases when we are exposed to these extreme temperatures.”

Mr Redmond-King’s comment was made by the UK Health Safety Agency (UKHSA). First yellow health warning of 2026 It warned last Friday that there was a risk of significant impact on health and social care services. The warning is valid until Wednesday.

Mr Redmond-King continued: “It is clearly exceptional that the May temperature record fell not once but twice in two days, and this is what happened at a time when the global average temperature increase was only 1.3°C.”

“As the CCC rightly points out, investing in adaptation is crucial. But governments also need to double down on the net zero emissions target because there will come a point when we can no longer adapt, so decarbonisation must be at the forefront of everything.”

The current heatwave is expected to last until Wednesday; At this point, temperatures will gradually drop but remain in the high 20s, with dry, sunny spells expected.