Climate change and the UK
A mild, changeable climate, and what the Met Office’s projections show.
Today
The UK has a temperate maritime climate: cool and mild, with changeable weather. Met Office: Climate change in the UK
UK warm spells have already increased and cold spells decreased, and both are linked to climate change. Met Office: Effects of climate change
What the projections say
The Met Office’s UK Climate Projections (UKCP) show how the UK climate may change. Met Office: Climate change in the UK
In future the UK can expect warmer, wetter winters, hotter, drier summers, and more frequent and intense weather extremes. Met Office: Climate change in the UK
Compared with 1990, by 2070 on a high-emissions path, UK winters could be 1–4.5 °C warmer and up to 30% wetter, and summers 1–6 °C warmer and up to 60% drier. Met Office: Climate change in the UK
Hot summer days could be 4–7 °C warmer by 2070 in that scenario. Met Office: Climate change in the UK Over the southern UK, two days or more above 30 °C become sixteen times more frequent by 2070. Met Office: Climate change in the UK
These figures come from the Met Office’s high-emissions scenario. The effects page covers the world as a whole, and the sooner emissions fall, the smaller the changes: Some changes can’t now be prevented, but the sooner emissions are cut, the smaller the changes will be. Met Office: Effects of climate change
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