Comment on UK heat record

“Particularly for the most vulnerable, this level of temperature is to nice summer weather what a hurricane is to an April shower. And these are not records anyone wants to be breaking.

“We are not used to coping with these temperatures in the UK, and we’re not set up to live our lives normally and safely with these new extremes. This is no doubt part of the reason why two thirds of the public support the UK’s commitment to net zero [2], to cut emissions sharply to avoid even worse in the future.”

Richard Black, Senior Associate at ECIU, said: “Arriving in the middle of a Conservative Party leadership election where some candidates have been querying the cost of cutting emissions, the weather is reminding us in the starkest possible terms of the penalties for not doing so.

“The science is quite clear that without bringing emissions to net zero, climate change will continue getting worse, with more heatwaves, droughts, floods, stronger storms and damage to lives, livelihoods and nature.

“The science is equally clear that just trying to adapt cannot work, and that the costs of not halting climate change – the cost of not zero – will be far higher than the cost of net zero.”