Will the recent heatwaves make us think twice about the climate?

by Jack Heale

Now, we love to talk about the UK weather, whether it be with friends, family, or complete strangers. It’s small talk, part of our culture — it keeps conversations ticking. But what if we talked about it for real?1

The weather in the UK in 2026 has been nothing short of unpredictable. 37.7°C was recorded at its peak in June. And I wonder: will this focus on the extreme weather lead to more of a focus on weather patterns and what we can do to mitigate the impact in the future?

The irony isn’t lost on me that London Climate Action Week — a huge gathering of green campaigners — had to call off around 1,000 events due to the extreme heat.

But could situations like this spark more conversation? Will everyday people realise that this isn’t just a blip, again? Or will the topic slip into the abyss until more weather changes occur?

It is understandable that people often need physical evidence to appreciate something, or notice changes.

Otherwise, sceptics may brush it off as another summer of 1976, when temperatures exceeded 32°C for 15 consecutive days between June and July. It peaked at 35.9°C.

However, when we look at the regularity of the extreme weather, we now have the 40.3°C heatwave peak in July 2022 to look back on. We’re on our third heatwave now this year, and temperatures have gone beyond 34°C for the eighth day this year. This has broken the previous record of seven days over this peak, set in 1976 and 2020.

When a third heatwave comes around, it’s hard to think that it’s the norm.

It may need to impact people’s daily lives to realise. In June, more than 1,000 schools were closed due to the heat and workers were allowed to work from home given the lack of infrastructure adapted to the heat. That may make people think twice.

Add to that rail troubles and six hospital trusts declaring major incidents because their equipment had overheated. And the impact on sleep and the wellbeing of children and pets, not forgetting ourselves.

These heatwaves can be a wake-up call for us to have that conversation. To do that research. To really talk about the weather and look around.

As for physical evidence, it isn’t always helped by the media coverage, or lack of, at times. For example, many stories discussing the weather would be accompanied with clips of people playing in the heat, sunbathing, in swimming pools and the like.

This paints a relaxed picture. While we don’t purely have to show extreme clips, some balance would help. And that might support the weather being taken more seriously.

Back in 2022 when the temperature broke 40°C, wildfire risks weren’t reported.

David Shukman, the BBC’s former chief environment correspondent, explained in a recent Climate Majority Project webinar that the Met Office, which produces “highly-accurate forecasting of a number of threats to the country”, predicted the 40°C heat, which was publicised days in advance.

However, the Met Office was also warning of the “extreme risk” of wildfires in London, and across Southern and Eastern England.

He continued: “The Met Office doesn’t have a licence and still doesn’t, to publicise those wildfire warnings. They share them with local authorities, emergency responders, the Environment Agency and others, and they can choose to publicise them but most don’t.”

“So, what I found from talking to people whose houses were burnt down that day in London, was that they didn’t know it was even a risk, it was totally beyond their imagination.”

The media has a responsibility to report on real, immediate risks to people.

At this point we should outline the difference, as it’s not always clear.

• Climate: A description of the average weather conditions in a certain place for the past 30 years or so.

• Weather: A description of what the conditions are like in a particular place.

While they are separate things, as the climate changes, it impacts the extremity of weather around us.

Data outlines that between 80% - 89% of the world’s people want their governments to take stronger action on climate change.

That is a sizable figure. Will this weather finally start to make governments act?

Only time will tell.

In March, over a six-hour spell, 94% of Brits talked about the weather.

A study by Tobias Rüttenauer found a link between more talk, but no action in the UK. After being impacted by a flood or heatwave, individuals are more likely to believe in climate change. This is especially notable among those more sceptical about climate change.

However, it found that once exposed to extreme weather events, people don’t change their environmental behaviour, such as energy saving, sustainable shopping or mode or transportation.

In my opinion, that could be in part due to how heat is perceived in the UK, given that we typically don’t have high heat for a chunk of the year. It’s generally viewed positively and brings about happy emotions. However, as the climate gets hotter, that, of course, could change.

Persistent weather changes and the thought of climate can bring about eco-paralysis or eco-anxiety for other people.

In the Climate Majority Project’s Mobilising Silent Majorities report, it is argued that in countries like the US, however, political polarisation2 has triggered a rigidity of beliefs around climate change and climate action, such that attitudes may not change in the face of terrifying weather.

“This threatens the growth of the climate majority. The climate movement must therefore establish itself as a depolarising force. Taking the temperature down when it comes to public debate should, at least in certain contexts, be climate-concerned citizens’ priority.”

In the meantime, as co-director of the Climate Majority Project, Rupert Read explained in an interview with TRT World Now, we need to manage the situation now.

“What they’re not willing to do, our political leaders, is to actually talk with us frankly about the reality of this hot, new world and of the kind of adaptations that we desperately need to make in order to be able to survive in it.

“I’m talking about cool spaces that are made available to communities, I’m talking about it being far easier for people to access money to improve their homes in terms of, for example, insulation to keep out the heat. And I’m talking about even more basic things like food resilience and water resilience. These need to be far higher priorities now.

“Us being insufficiently food and water resilient in Europe is now a real security threat, and that security threat is now being made worse each year by the fact that we’re not taking sufficient action to prepare for this kind of extreme climate damage.”

Yes, in the UK, we love to talk about the weather. This is a chance for the silent majority to see itself and to really talk about the weather, how it’s impacting things and people around you. Perhaps you may finish your next conversation about the weather with: what could I learn more about or support to manage the climate that we live in?

Imagine looking around on a train, or in a supermarket line, and knowing that most people next to you think society might collapse within their lifetimes, want to live by better values, want to see real action on climate?

For the first time in decades, we could understand ourselves as belonging to a historical movement in becoming.

Talk about your concerns, about the weather, for real.

Share this message: you are not alone, you are part of a majority.

It’s time to see ourselves, together, as a force for change.