Top News

The "British way of life" is under threat from climate change, the Government's independent advisers on the issue have warned. High heat, flooding and drought pose major risks to the country, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) said. It urged ministers to set maximum temperature limits for workplaces and roll out air conditioning in hospitals and care homes, to protect Britons against worsening climate change.

Unison Union said regulating workplace temperatures and adapting for climate change is "long overdue".

Jon Richards, UNISON assistant general secretary, said: "This recognition of the need to adapt to climate change is a vital step. Increased investment in flood defences, public buildings and cooling systems for key public services are all essential and long overdue. Setting maximum temperatures for workplaces is essential.
"Being too hot at work puts people's health at risk and leads to poorer performance and lower productivity. Climate change means staff are ever more likely to face fluctuating conditions, and health and safety reps will play an increasingly vital role in making sure workers are safe."

The CCC's proposals to protect the UK from climate change require investment of around £11 billion a year, split almost evenly between public and private funding.

It added: "The cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of acting now."

Baroness Brown, chair of the CCC's adaptation committee, said: "We can protect patients and residents in overheated hospitals and care homes, children in nurseries and schools, and communities facing repeated flooding. We can support our farmers to maintain our food supplies. We can keep sports pitches usable, high streets open for business, and iconic British music festivals running safely.

"The public want to see change and the government now has an opportunity to step up and protect our way of life."

The UK has already experienced temperatures of over 40C for the first time during the July 2022 heatwave.

This led to wildfires and contributed to almost 3,000 deaths in England across five heat episodes that summer.

The number of deaths caused by heat is expected to rise by several thousand people a year by the 2050s.

UK seabirds such as puffins, storm petrels and Arctic skuas are possibly declining by up to 80% because of warming seas.

By 2050, 92% of homes could face dangerous overheating, peak river flows could rise by up to 45% and water shortages could exceed five billion litres per day.

Eleanor Johnston, climate change manager at The Wildlife Trusts, said: "This report is a stark reminder that the UK is dangerously unprepared for the escalating impacts of climate change. But it is clear where the solution lies: nature. As our strongest defence against climate change, nature is not an optional extra - it is a necessity."

She added: "The government must put nature at the heart of climate adaptation. That means restoring and protecting habitats at scale, investing in nature recovery, and ensuring planning decisions work with nature. Delay will only deepen damage and increase costs for people, wildlife, and the economy."