UK unprepared for heat waves as 2024 set to be hottest yet

By Eamon Akil Farhat

The UK government is doing little to prepare for hotter summers and the dangerous consequences associated with heat waves predicted to become more frequent, according to a key parliamentary committee.

Government plans to mitigate the effects of rising temperatures published last July mostly reiterated existing policy and don’t show “sufficient urgency or ambition,” the Environmental Audit Committee said in a report published Wednesday. The committee is comprised of lawmakers and examines how government policies and programs impact the environment.

Extreme heat affects everything from workplace productivity to water supplies and public health, with inadequate or interrupted sleep patterns alone costing the economy £60 billion ($76 billion) annually, according to the report. Last year was the warmest on record and Britain’s Met Office already forecasts 2024 to be even hotter.

Scientists Are Already Bracing for Record-Breaking Heat in 2024

“There are a number of relatively simple ways to mitigate overheating risk, such as installing shutters, increasing the size of green spaces and using reflective paint on roofs,” Philip Dunne, the chairman of the environmental committee, said in the report. “Yet none of these measures are being rolled out at scale.”

Graph showing average temperature difference to pre-industrial conditions.

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The committee called on the government to establish a national program to adapt Britain’s housing stock for both net zero emissions and heat resilience. More than 4.6 million English homes experience summertime overheating, while about 90 per cent of the country’s existing dwellings will get too hot in a scenario where global temperatures increase by 2C (3.6F), the report said.