Key impacts
The effects of climate change will vary from region to region. The UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) publishes information on how the UK climate will change. While UKCIP's projections cover the whole of the UK, this site looks at how climate change will affect homes in the three regions. The three key impacts are flooding, water scarcity and overheating.
While we can't yet point the finger at weather on a particular day and say it was 'caused' by climate change we do expect that some events - like floods, droughts, and heatwaves - will happen more often and get more severe as the climate changes. Projections for the three regions over the next few decades are shown below.
Flooding
- Winters will be wetter, with an increase in heavy storms
- There will be more heavy rainstorms in the summer
- Sea levels will rise with a marked effect in the three regions, where the land is still sinking after the last Ice Age
Flooding: more information
Flooding: recent examples
Water scarcity
- Summers will be drier, with up to 60 per cent less rain on average
- The soil will be drier in spring, summer and autumn
- Less rain and dry soil will lead to increased risk of droughts
- An increasing population, and a long-term increase in water consumption per person, will put more pressure on our water resources. Water is already in short supply, with much of the three regions area having only just enough wate
Water scarcity: more information
Water scarcity: recent examples
Overheating
- By 2050, summers will be hotter, with average temperatures up by 1 to 5°C
- Summer days over 30°C will be more frequent
- Heatwaves, such as those experienced in Europe during the summer of 2003, will become more frequent
- In addition to temperature increases from climate change, in towns and cities, where buildings are closely packed, heat gets trapped in the day and released slowly overnight. This effect (known as the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect) can keep larger towns 5 to 6°C warmer than the surrounding countryside
Overheating: more information
Overheating: recent examples
