The UK's summers are getting hotter – but how prepared are we?
The UK is experiencing increasingly hotter summers, with record-breaking temperatures becoming more frequent. The article examines whether the nation's infrastructure, housing, and public services are adequately prepared to cope with the health, economic, and environmental impacts of extreme heat.
Background
- The UK's infrastructure was designed for a cool, damp climate and is ill-suited to the hotter summers now driven by climate change. Most homes, built to trap heat, overheat dangerously; railways buckle; and the NHS lacks capacity for heat-related illness.
- Unlike hot-climate countries, the UK has little air conditioning, no heat-resistant building codes, and limited cooling in schools and hospitals.
- The Climate Change Committee (CCC), the UK's independent climate adviser, has repeatedly warned that the country is "poorly prepared" for rising temperatures.
- This article was published in August 2025 after a summer of record overnight temperatures, which are especially dangerous because the body gets no chance to cool down.