The Climate Change Committee has warned that worsening heatwaves, flooding and drought are threatening public health, the NHS and basic living standards across the UK.
Its new report finds that without action, climate impacts could cost the UK up to £260 billion a year by 2050, while the adaptation measures it recommends would cost around £11 billion a year.
The report warns that maximum temperatures could regularly surpass 40 degrees Celsius in many areas of the UK by 2050, with the hottest heatwaves potentially exceeding 45 degrees.
Met Office data showed that 2025 was the hottest summer on record and the new report found that 92% of existing homes could overheat in more extreme heat events, creating dangerous conditions for the most vulnerable people.
The analysis also finds that the poorest neighbourhoods in the UK are seven times more likely to be vulnerable to overheating, and over ten times more likely to be at risk of flooding.
A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition commented:
“Fuel poverty is not just a winter problem. Households that are unable to afford to cool their home to an adequate temperature are just as much in fuel poverty as those who cannot afford to heat it. As summers grow hotter, that dimension of the crisis will become harder to ignore.
“The households least equipped to cope with extreme heat are the same households already struggling with high energy bills: people living in poorly insulated homes, people with long-term health conditions, disabled people, low-income families and older people.
“The Climate Change Committee is right that investment in adaptation is urgently needed. But the most cost-effective intervention remains the same one that addresses fuel poverty in winter and that is improving the energy efficiency of our homes.
“A properly resourced Warm Homes Plan, with a Warm Homes Guarantee [pdf] at its heart, would reduce the need for expensive cooling in summer just as it reduces heating costs in winter.”