UK should set maximum working temperature rules, advisers say

UK temperatures hit 40C for the first time on record in July 2022 but scientists warn that even more extreme heat is now possible The UK should introduce a maximum temperature for workplaces to protect people as heatwaves intensify due to climate change, the government's adviser has said. The Climate Change Committee (CCC) said that rolling out air conditioning and other cooling technologies in schools and hospitals should be one of the government's highest priorities. It warned that increasingl

The government said it would carefully consider and respond to the committee's advice, adding it was already investing in flood defences. But Baroness Brown, chair of the CCC's Adaptation Committee, criticised the "woeful" performance of successive governments in tackling the present and future threats facing the UK from climate change. "We need to recognise that there are aspects of our British way of life which are now really under threat from climate," she said. "It's not rocket science - we know what to do [… but] we haven't yet seen a government that's prepared to prioritise adapting to the change of climate [... and] protecting the people and the places that we love," she added. The CCC warned that the "UK was built for a climate that no longer exists today", adding that it is now inarguable that climate change is reshaping our weather. The world has already warmed by about 1.4C compared with pre-industrial times - before humans started burning large amounts of fossil fuels - and global efforts to keep warming to well below 2C remain off track. The CCC points to the twin threats of winter flooding and summer droughts, with increasingly wet winters and dry summers expected on average with further climate change. By the middle of the century, peak river flows in some catchments could be up to 45% higher during periods of very heavy rain, it warned. Several regions of the UK were hit by drought in 2025 But the committee's strongest words are for the threat of extreme heat, which it says is the greatest health risk from climate change facing the UK. More than 90% of existing homes could overheat during more extreme heatwaves, the committee warned. The CCC wants the government to introduce maximum temperature rules for workplaces to help protect workers' health.

Key points

• The government said it would carefully consider and respond to the committee's advice, adding it was already investing in flood defences.
• But Baroness Brown, chair of the CCC's Adaptation Committee, criticised the "woeful" performance of successive governments in tackling the present and future threats facing the UK from climate change.
• "We need to recognise that there are aspects of our British way of life which are now really under threat from climate," she said.
• "It's not rocket science - we know what to do [… but] we haven't yet seen a government that's prepared to prioritise adapting to the change of climate [...
• and] protecting the people and the places that we love," she added.