Boiling point: short-term coping with heatwaves in the UK is not enough

Howarth, Candice ORCID: 0000-0003-2132-5747, McLoughlin, Niall, Mehryar, Sara ORCID: 0000-0002-5755-0869, Murtagh, Ellie, Armstrong, Andrea and Porter, James (2025) Boiling point: short-term coping with heatwaves in the UK is not enough. Environmental Research Letters. ISSN 1748-9326

Text (Howarth et al_2025_Environ._Res._Lett._10.1088_1748-9326_add94c) - Accepted Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (1MB)

• https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.10...

Abstract

In July 2022, a national emergency was declared in the United Kingdom (UK) following the Met Office's first-ever red extreme heat warning. As temperatures reached 40.3oC, thousands of excess deaths were recorded. Based on 38 expert interviews and 4 focus groups with key decision-makers and stakeholders working on the frontline of the 2022 UK heatwaves, we found that the country is not prepared for extreme heat because: (1) policies and planning prioritise coping over resilience; (2) insufficient preventative actions were taken; and (3) a range of barriers hinder effective short and longer-term measures. We argue that whilst the UK coped with the heatwaves in 2022, it lacks the resilience needed to deal with persistent and prolonged heat events.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Grantham Research Institute
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences
Date Deposited:	19 May 2025 10:45
Last Modified:	20 May 2025 10:51
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/128139

Actions (login required)

View Item