Extreme weather will be the norm and UK is not prepared, report warns

Extreme weather will be the norm and the UK is not prepared, warn scientists.

The UK and the rest of the world is witnessing climate change, and the UK is set to see ever more frequent extreme weather according to scientists. Last year’s data showed that the UK saw one of its warmest, sunniest and also wettest years on record.

According to a report by climate change experts and the Met office, moderate weather in the UK is something that will be seen less and less frequently. 2020 made it into the top 10 figures for hours of sunshine, the amount of rain and even heat too. This is no mean feat when the records stretch back over a century.

2020 was the third warmest year on record, but also the fifth wettest to according to an article published in the International Journal of Climatology, called State of the UK Climate 2020.

The Met office’s Mike Kendon was a lead author for the study. He belongs to the National Climate Information Centre, and said: “The UK’s climate is already changing. The warming that we see is broadly consistent with what we see globally … and our climate seems to be getting wetter as well as warmer, and that’s consistent with our broad understanding of the process [of climate change].”

Scientists are also warning that extreme weather is becoming more common.

“We see a continuing emerging pattern of more high temperature and more rainfall extremes. The baseline of our climate is changing and what we regard as normal is changing,” said Kendon.

Extreme weather warnings have also been backed up by William Collins who is a professor of meteorology at the University of Reading. “The UK’s weather is likely to become even more extreme as global temperatures rise. Governments have pledged to pursue efforts to limit temperature increases to 1.5C. Failure to do so will cause worldwide climate impacts, and we will not be immune in the UK,” said Collins.

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