The climate change impact on the UK is severe
Heavy rainfalls, floods, heatwaves, droughts and wildfires are some of the major climate change challenges in the United Kingdom (UK), and since January of this year the UK has been experiencing, what seems to be, a continuous episode of rainfalls. An article by Professors Jess Neumann and Hannah Cloke in The Conversation on February 13, 2026, uses the headline “Britain’s relentless rain shows climate predictions playing out as expected.” The article says “Large parts of the UK are experiencing relentless rainfall, with some places seeing rain for 41 consecutive days and counting. In Reading, in the south east of England, our university’s official rain gauge has recorded precipitation on 31 consecutive days – unprecedented in records stretching all the way back to 1908.” It also says the average rain in Reading for the last 30 years is 58mm, while in the 31 days in question that town received 141mm. Comparing the situation with that of 2025 and showing how climate realities have become unpredictable, the article states that “as a whole, 2025 from spring onwards was exceptionally dry. Fast forward to the new year, and we’re facing the opposite – weeks of rainfall and flooding. These extremes are what we expect to see in this part of the world, as heat builds up in the global atmosphere and oceans. For British people, this is what climate change right now feels like.”
Writing on February 9, 2026, The Guardian states that “in a ‘miserable and relentlessly wet’ start to the year, rain has fallen somewhere in the UK every single day for weeks on end.” To demonstrate the severity of the rainfall, it says “Northern Ireland has recorded its wettest January in 149 years according to the UK Met Office, while southern England has endured its sixth wettest January since records began in 1836. Rainfall in the south-west was 56% above the long‑term average, rising to 88% above average across the south-east and central southern England.”
In 2025 the UK experienced extreme and widespread heatwaves. A publication By BBC on August 12, 2025, says “a top temperature of 33.4C was recorded in Northolt in north-west London, Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire and Benson in Oxfordshire. The highest temperatures in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland were 32.8C in Cardiff, 29.4C at Charterhall and 27.8C in Armagh.” It argues that this was England’s fourth heatwave during the 2025 summer period. Due to the extreme heat, the publication says health services were put on alert to be of assistance to individuals developing heat related complications. Further, the publication states that Unions were demanding that workplace environments include a maximum temperature of 30C, beyond which work should cease and that farmers claimed that agricultural output suffered due to the heatwaves’ impact on plants and fruits.
In 2025, the drought came with the heatwaves , particularly in England. An article by BBC on August 20, 2025, says “Millions of people across England and Wales are in regions hit by drought, and further areas are at risk of following if dry weather continues,” and that “England’s National Drought Group, led by the Environment Agency, says the water shortfall situation is now a ‘nationally significant incident.’ ” The article says that the drought also negatively affected agricultural activities and caused some areas in England to institute water rationing rules, including what it calls ‘hosepipe bans,’ which was basically a ban on using the garden hose to perform activities like watering the lawn and washing cars. It also notes that ‘river flows’ and some reservoirs were affected and it Quotes a Climate Science expert as saying ” ‘A warmer atmosphere is thirstier for moisture and this can mean water in the soil, rivers and reservoirs are depleted more effectively, leading to more rapidly onsetting droughts, heatwaves and wildfires.’ ”
Indeed, along with the heatwaves and drought, wildfires were also major issues in the UK in 2025, as Euronews on November 25, 2025, put it “It is estimated that wildfires have ravaged more than 46,000 hectares this year in the UK, the largest area since monitoring began” and put more precisely, it says, “from January to November, the Global Wildfire Information System estimates that wildfires have burned a staggering 47,026 hectares in the UK.” Also, describing the wildfires in a historical context Euronews says “this marks the largest area in any year since monitoring began in 2012 and is double the area burned in the record-breaking summer of 2022, where the Met Office found climate change made severe fires six times more likely.”
In April 2025, a report by the Climate Change Committee (CCC) of the UK Government called ‘Progress in adapting to climate change: 2025 report to Parliament,’ presented some interesting observations. It says “the increasing impacts of climate change are clear, both globally and in the UK. Adaptation is needed now to ensure that the UK is prepared for today’s extreme weather as well as the rapidly increasing severity of future risks. The costs of these impacts are already being felt, and the risks will continue to grow even if international targets to limit global warming are met. Action is needed now whilst we still have the opportunity to address these risks in a way that is both cost-effective and timely.” It goes on to say the UK is extremely unprepared for climate change disruptions and the country should begin to “improve [adaptation] coordination across government…integrate adaptation into all relevant policies…and implement monitoring, evaluation and learning across all sectors,” among other things. The report proposes several climate change threats to the society, including threats to agriculture, infrastructure, sea levels, health and safety of citizens and economic stability. It says “there is now unequivocal evidence that climate change is making extreme weather in UK, such as heatwaves, heavy rainfall, and wildfire-conducive conditions, more likely and more extreme.”
In a January 22, 2026 publication, Ember-Energy shows that the UK is having some success in switching from fossil fuel to renewable energy use in its electricity generation process. It states that “in the UK, low-carbon renewables have overtaken fossil fuels as the largest source of power generation,” in 2025. It claims that in 2025, renewable energies were responsible for 64% of the electricity production, with wind and solar creating 36% out of the 64%, and that fossil fuels still account for 36% of the electricity generation. Wind power is an important part of the UK’s energy transition push, Ember-Energy contends that “With some of Europe’s highest wind speeds and a wind fleet of over 32 GW, it’s no surprise that wind power is the United Kingdom’s largest source of clean electricity (29%).” Coal is no longer used for producing electricity in the UK.
The UK is experiencing some progress in Electric Vehicles (EV’s) sales. A UK publication, Ev Infrastructure News, reports that “the sale of electric vehicles (EVs) has continued its growth in the UK, with nearly one in four cars sold in 2025 being battery electric vehicles (BEVs).” With respect to new automobiles, it says, “according to the latest data from New Automotive, more than 477,000 BEVs were sold in 2025, a 23.4% market share across all types of vehicles and a 21.6% increase from 2024,” and regarding the broader market, “Overall, any type of electrified vehicle experienced a growth in numbers last year, while petrol and diesel were down. Hybrid cars (HEV) ended 2025 with the highest market share across all vehicle types, with 31.99% and more than 652,000 HEVs were registered throughout 2025.”
The UK Government has recently embarked on a nationwide advertising campaign, encouraging vehicle purchasers to buy electric vehicles, instead of those powered by fossil fuels. A Press release from a member of the Government on January 19, 2026, says “launching across TV, radio and digital outlets, the campaign highlights how drivers can save up to £3,750 off the cost of a new electric vehicle (EV) thanks to the government Electric Car Grant, alongside up to £1,400 on annual fuel and maintenance costs and access to over 87,000 charge points across the UK.” It further states that “the campaign is the latest move to back British industry in the transition by boosting demand for EVs, giving manufacturers and supply chains the confidence to invest while supporting skilled jobs and driving economic growth, as this government delivers renewal people can feel in their everyday lives.”
The UK has what is called the ‘Zero Emission Vehicle’ (ZEV) mandate, to assist in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by road transportation. In 2025, vehicle manufacturers were mandated to make sure that the sales of cars and vans comprised of at least 28% ZEVs. With a periodic increase in the ZEVs’ percentage of sales, the mandate’s Main objective is that by 2030 zero emission cars and vans will be 80% and 70% respectively, of sales. It’s mandated that by 2035 all car and van sales will be ZEVs, with the exception of hybrids, which are given until 2035. The penalty for non-compliance with the law is15,000 pounds per vehicle sold. Car manufacturers perceive the mandate as too punitive and restrictive and are lobbying for changes.
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