Press Office

There is no doubt the effects of human-induced climate change are being felt in the UK.

Summer 2022 saw England’s joint hottest summer on record. And the UK’s fourth hottest summer since records began.

Four of the five warmest summers on record in England have occurred since 2003.

The UK’s summer rainfall dropped to 62 per cent in 2022, some areas saw less than 50 per cent of their typical rainfall.

New Year’s Day 2022 was the hottest on record.

(Met Office statistics)

The UK has the oldest housing stock in Europe and most likely the world. While still valued, these homes leak energy and are unsuited to hotter summers and drier winters.

In 2019 the average Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) energy and environmental rating of English homes was 65 points out of a possible100.

Almost a quarter (24%) of the public have never heard of an energy performance certificate (EPC). Of those who have, less than a third (27%) are aware the EPC provides recommendations on energy efficiency improvements.

Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Public Attitudes Tracker, June 2022

According to a September 2021 Government Opinions and Lifestyle Survey less than a fifth of people in Great Britain (19%) were considering improving their home’s energy efficiency. Of those who were not considering any improvements, the most common reason for this was believing their home was already efficient enough (35%), followed by not owning their own home (29%), and changes costing too much money (28%).

On one day in July 2022 there were 22 wildfires across the country, as well as hundreds of maller blazes with residents evacuated from their homes. Major incidents declared in London, Leicestershire, East, North and South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. Hertfordshire, Suffolk and Norfolk.

63 homes were destroyed.

The number of licensed zero emission vehicles, ultra-low emission vehicles, and plug-in vehicles has increased by 71% or more in the last year (Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2022 compared with Quarter 1 2021) in the UK.

(Office for National Statistics figures)

In August 2022 there were 33,996 public charging points in the UK in 20,534 locations. That’s more than the number of petrol stations.

(Zap Map statistic)

Food production is impacted by changes in weather. Soil is affected by extremes of heat and rainfall.

Defra has acknowledged that climate hazards pose an increased threat to crops and livestock.

British potatoes, veg and fruit are at risk from extreme and unpredictable weather.

In 2018 apple growers lost 25 per cent of their harvest. Onion yields were down 40 per cent. Potato crops fell by 20 per cent.

(Priestly International Centre for Climate Rese

The floods of 2015/16 alone cost our economy £1.6 billion and many people lost treasured possessions and were out of their homes for over a year suffering huge stress in the process. Overseas, the Camp Fire in California that spread through many celebrity homes, cost over $16 billion.