Red Heat-health Alert
A red alert means there is a significant risk to life even for healthy people. The current heatwave (June 26 2026) scorching western Europe is the most severe and widespread ever and is only possible due to the climate crisis driven by fossil fuel burning, scientists have said. Without urgent climate action, future heat conditions would get even more extreme and the current summer could seem relatively cool in retrospect. It’s really now a question of what kind of future we want for ourselves, and whether we’re willing to do what it takes to secure it
2026-05-28
The UK has broken the long-standing records for the hottest day and the hottest night in May by more than two clear degrees. This is national news. But what they don’t tell you is the reason behind it. It is a Heat Dome – a Blocking Extreme weather pattern that is holding hot air from the Azores above a lot of Europe for a period measured in weeks. It is a feature of the Climate Emergency – what we are doing to the planet, and these events are due to get more severe and frequent. The associated problem is drought with more than 15 thousand homes in Kent without water today (May 28). The Environment Agency has predicted that we will be short of 5 billion litres of water a day by 2055.
What do we do about all this? Clearly it is not just a simple matter of putting your socks in the fridge overnight! Opening the windows, drawing the curtains and planting trees for shade will not be enough either. The Government’s Climate Change Committee (CCC) has just produced a report drawing attention to the seriousness of the situation. Britain was ‘built for a climate that no longer exists’ and needs urgent changes to survive global heating. We must think like a hot country. Heatwaves are expected to exceed 40C in all parts of the UK by 2050. Periods of hot weather will be longer, which could lead to an additional 10,000 heat-related deaths a year. About nine in 10 UK homes are likely to overheat.
Without restoring our ecosystems, building resilience and making climate adaptation a priority across all of government, we are playing with the future of our communities. Preparing is far cheaper than reacting. The CCC estimates that every £1 spent on adaptation returns around £5 in avoided harm, while the cost of inaction – already £60bn a year – is on course to reach £260bn within two decades. Our current short-term, reactive approach diverts more of our budget away from vital services and undermines our ability to keep the cost of living lower for millions of households. The government should implement the CCC’s recommendations in full.
But most people are blithely unaware of all this. What we really need as a top priority, is a public information campaign similar to the one during COVID. There is currently a People’s Emergency Briefing film being screened in about 1000 locations across the country. Bromsgrove has its own first screening on June 9th (email PEBteam@ourclimateconversation.uk for details). This is an opportunity for everyone to understand the situation and to discuss the effects on our local community and how we should react.