How have the UK public been affected by extreme heat and what do they think about the risks that it poses in the future?

Authors: Dr Neil Jennings, Dr Pauline Paterson, Dr Clair Barnes, Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh and Dr Candice Howarth. 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment report concluded that the frequency and intensity of heatwaves and extreme heat has increased globally as a result of climate change. Such extremes of temperature negatively affect people’s physical and mental health. ​These slides summarise findings from a nationally representative sample (on the basis of age, gender and ethnicity) of 897 people who were asked to share their experience of heatwaves and very hot weather in the UK. The survey was conducted via the platform Prolific.com between 2-4 October 2024.

Headlines

• People with physical and mental health conditions are particularly vulnerable to the negative health impacts of extreme heat.
• A half of the UK public struggle to sleep during hot weather and a fifth of people have experienced negative health impacts due to heatwaves in the last five years.
• The productivity of two-in-five people is negatively affected by hot weather as they struggle to work.
• People may be underestimating the risk of experiencing negative health outcomes caused by hot weather in the future.
• Many people are yet to form an opinion on the Government’s climate adaptation plans, but the majority of those who have an opinion believe current plans to be insufficient.
• People who have experienced the negative health impacts of extreme heat are more likely to support action to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Key recommendations

To minimise the negative health and productivity impacts of extreme heat, we recommend the UK Government:

• Increases ambition on measures that help the UK to adapt to a warming climate to reduce the risk of homes and workplaces overheating. This applies to standards for new buildings as well as the existing housing stock.
• Increases awareness amongst the public of the risks posed by extreme heat and the actions they can take to reduce their exposure.
• Target support towards those with pre-existing physical and mental health conditions before, during and after periods of extreme heat.