Skyrocketing Temperatures: What Does the UK’s Latest Heatwave Tell us About the Climate Crisis?

by Ellie Daley

Heatwaves and wildfires

In July 2022, for the first time ever recorded, the UK experienced temperatures up to 40°C [1]. This happened in the context of a Europe-wide heatwave so disruptive that wildfires raged across several southern and western European countries, taking hundreds of lives and causing irreversible damage to land and infrastructure in the process [2]. With such high temperatures, unprecedented wildfires also developed in the UK with firefighter Tim Green describing the fires as “infernos” [3]. Sixteen houses burned down in Wennington, London, and another 1,146 incidents across the country put a severe strain on fire services [4]. Tuesday 19^th July was the fire services’ busiest day since World War II [4]. And with 11,500 job cuts within this sector in the past decade, pressure on fire brigades will only worsen as wildfires are expected to become more commonplace in the future [3,5].

This is but one example showing that the UK is currently simply not equipped to handle the consequences of the climate crisis. Regarding skyrocketing temperatures and wildfires, Cabinet Office minister, Kit Malthouse, publicly stated “Britain may be unaccustomed to such high temperatures but the UK, along with our European neighbours, must learn to live with extreme events such as these” [6]. Such statements are said with frivolity as though adapting to the extreme, unprecedented temperatures is easy for Britons to do. As though homes burning down and wildfires spreading is something we should simply accept rather than attempt to combat. 

Lives and infrastructure 

During the heatwave there was varying online discourse from the general public undermining the red weather warning issued by the Met Office before the heatwave [7]. Broadcaster, journalist, and presenter Jeremy Clarkson mocked the red warning by satirically comparing it to a “DefCon 8 level three killer death heatwave warning” [8]. In reality, roughly 1500 people across Europe (including the UK) actually died due to the severe heat [9]. Many compared the recent heatwave to the one in 1976 where temperatures consecutively exceeded 32°C for 15 days—which climate scientist Ella Gilbert states is nothing like the climate crisis Britain is facing today [10].

Britain’s infrastructure isn’t designed to cope with such intense heat, with Met Office boss Penny Endersby noting that “[British] lifestyles and infrastructure are not adapted to what is coming” [11]. From 2018 to 2022, the provisional UK mean temperature annually has ranged between 9.3 °C to 9.6 °C with a naturally cooler climate and harsh winters [12]. To cope with historic climate characteristics, housing and infrastructure in the UK are designed to keep heat inside, rather than let the heat out like infrastructure in countries with warmer climates such as Australia, the Philippines, and India. ‘Learning to live’ with these new temperatures isn’t as easy as the Cabinet Office minister previously made it sound. Roads, railways, and airway runways are also not designed to withstand such heat. Rather than concrete, the majority of UK roads are made with asphalt which can begin to soften at 50°C [13].

What does this tell us about the climate crisis?

Ultimately, no country can avoid the global consequences of the climate crisis. We are all affected and are all culpable. While countries with extremely hot and extremely cold climates are the most affected, like the severe droughts across East Africa or rapid glacial melting in Antarctica, the UK is clearly feeling the impacts of the crisis as well [14,15]. As a consequence, the UK’s infrastructure needs to adapt to the soaring heat while simultaneously combating the climate crisis to reduce the need to adapt to the temperature changes in the first place. The main source of combat is The Climate Change Act (2008). It commits the UK government to legally set ‘carbon budgets’ to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 100% compared to 1990 levels (net zero) by 2050 [16]. However, according to the Climate Change Committee, as of June 2022 the UK is not on track to deliver net zero emissions [17].

Now, more than ever, the UK government needs to propose policies to combat the climate crisis. We can see the physical impacts all around us—in the melting tarmac, the burning houses and wildfires across the regions, and the global threats to food security slowly impacting our supermarket shelves [18]. This is just the beginning of how the UK is being impacted by the climate crisis and it will only worsen if we do not take action quickly and at scale.

References:

[1] Jasmines Andersson, Doug Falkner, “Heatwave: Fires blaze after UK passes 40C for first time”, The BBC, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62217282, accessed on 24/07/22
[2] Sam Jones, “Forest fires rage across Europe as heatwave sends temperatures soaring”, The Guardian,  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/17/forest-fires-rage-across-europe-as-heatwave-sends-temperatures-soaring, accessed on 24/07/22
[3] Tim Green, “I’ve fought wildfires for decades. None of it prepared me for the UK infernos with week”, The Guardian, I’ve fought wildfires for decades. None of it prepared me for the UK infernos this week | Tim Green, accessed on 25/07/22
[4] Jamie Grierson, “UK cities need to prepare for future wildfires, say fire chiefs”, The Guardian, UK cities need to prepare for future wildfires, say fire chiefs, accessed on 27/07/22[5] Rhys Blakely, Tom Ball, “Experts warn Britain needs to be better prepared after wildfires double in year”, The Times, Experts warn Britain needs to be better prepared after wildfires double in year, accessed on 27/07/22
[6] Emine Sinmaz, “UK must learn to live with extreme weather, says cabinet minister”, The Guardian, UK must learn to live with extreme weather, says cabinet minister, accessed on 27/07/22
[7] Press Office, “UK prepares for historic hot spell”, Met Office, UK prepares for historic hot spell – Met Office, accessed on 27/07/22
[8] Jeremy Clarkson, Twitter, https://twitter.com/jeremyclarkson/status/1548625115918868481?s=21&t=6Z3jQXHm9W6uepRZj0eUTQ, accessed on 27/07/22
[9] ABC News, “European heatwave death toll soars above 1500 as temperatures soar continent”, European heatwave death toll soars above 1,500 as temperatures soar across continent – ABC News, accessed 27/07/22
[10] Ella Gilbert, “Yes, Britain had a heatwave in 1976. No, it was nothing like the crisis we’re in now”, The Guardian, Yes, Britain had a heatwave in 1976. No, it was nothing like the crisis we’re in now, accessed on 27/07/22
[11] Alexander Smith, “Britain braces for record heat, risking lives and infrastructure”, NBC News, UK heatwave risks hottest day ever, accessed 25/07/22 
[12] Press Office, “Climate summaries”, Met Office, https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/summaries/index, accessed on 24/07/22
[13] Gwyn Topham, “Why do Britain’s roads melt and its rails buckle in heat?”, The Guardian, Why do Britain’s roads melt and its rails buckle in heat?, accessed on 29/07/22
[14] Joice Etutu & Alexandra Ostasiewicz, “East Africa drought: ‘The suffering here has no equal’”, BBC News, East Africa drought: ‘The suffering here has no equal’ – BBC News, accessed 28/07/22
[15] Lorin Hancock, “Why are glaciers and sea ice melting?”, WWF, Why are glaciers and sea ice melting?, accessed on 28/07/22  
[16] “A legal duty to act”, Climate Change Committee, A legal duty to act – Climate Change Committee, accessed on 29/07/22
[17] “Current programmes will not deliver Net Zero”, Climate Change Committee, Current programmes will not deliver Net Zero – Climate Change Committee, accessed on 29/07/22
[18] Press Office, “Impacts on food security”, Met Office, Impacts on food security – Met Office, accessed on 29/07/22