UK’s way of life ‘under threat’ as extreme weather ‘set to become norm’

The report was released by the Met Office today.

The UK was engulfed by intense heat this weekend as temperatures soared well over 30C, while a heatwave last month is reported to have caused more than 260 deaths in London. 

Extreme heatwaves like this are usually seen as unique — occurring once or twice a year — however, according to the report we should expect them much more regularly as a result of our changing climate. 

It compared the difference in temperature between 1961 and 1990 and the decade leading up to 2024. 

The results were shocking, showing the hottest summer days and coldest winter nights have warmed twice as fast.

In some cases the results were record-breaking. The period between October 2023 and March 2024 was the wettest winter period in England and Wales in over 250 years, while Spring 2024 was the warmest on record.

The lead author of the report, said: "Every year that goes by is another upward step on the warming trajectory our climate is on.

"Observations show that our climate in the UK is now notably different to what it was just a few decades ago.

"We are now seeing records being broken very frequently as we see temperature and rainfall extremes being the most affected by our changing climate."

Climate change is the long-term warming of global temperatures caused in main by human activities like the burning of fossil fuels.

Greenhouse gases, released as a by-product of those activities, trap heat in the earth’s atmosphere rather than letting it escape.

While the impacts of global warming have begun, scientists warn that it is not too late to prevent the worst of the damage it will cause, by reducing the global combustion of fossil fuels as soon as possible.