The UK is currently experiencing a spring heatwave, with temperatures soaring to 35.1°C in some areas…
As people across Britain search for ways to stay cool, scientists say climate change is driving the unusually high temperatures with the media pushing the narrative full swing.
Friederike Otto, Professor of Climate Science at Imperial College London, said: “This record-breaking heat clearly bears the hallmarks of climate change.
“Temperatures at this level were once considered rare even in the peak of summer.
“Reaching 35°C in the UK during spring is truly remarkable, but the scientific evidence is clear — climate change is making heatwaves more intense, longer-lasting and increasingly common.”
The Daily Mail reports: Looking ahead, Dr Otto warns that these spring heatwaves could become the norm, unless urgent action is taken to curb climate change.
‘The climate we are living in today is simply not the one we grew up with, and our buildings and infrastructure are woefully unprepared for what’s next,’ she added.
‘While we have made some progress in cutting emissions, it is not fast enough. Temperature records will continue to tumble until we fundamentally halt global emissions and reach net zero.’
Data released by the Met Office confirms that the May and spring UK temperature records were broken not just once, but twice this week.
A temperature of 34.8°C was recorded on Monday at Kew Gardens, before a reading of 35.1°C was taken at the same site yesterday.
The previous record was 32.8°C which was reached in 1922 and 1944.
Gareth Redmond–King, Head of International at the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit, called these new records ‘deeply worrying’.
He said: ‘To break one extreme weather record in the space of a couple of days is one thing, but breaking them each day and night in succession, and by such a margin, is deeply worrying.
‘The hottest May day in the UK is now more than two degrees higher than it was last week – and had been for more than 80 years – and our sleep is being disrupted by tropical spring nights.
‘As recent heatwaves here and around Europe have shown, dangerous extremes cause harm and cost lives, posing a particular risk to elderly people and very young children.
‘If we want to avoid worse extremes becoming the norm, then science has the answer – cutting our planet–heating emissions to net zero is the only way we know to halt climate change.’
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Dr Laurence Wainwright, a senior researcher at the University of Oxford revealed just how hot the UK could get if climate change isn’t curbed.
‘Overwhelming scientific evidence indicates that human-induced climate change is already, and will continue to, result in the UK getting hotter,’ he explained.