UK climate advisers warned the government for the first time on Wednesday to prepare for 2C of global warming by 2050, stressing current efforts to adapt to extreme weather are falling far short.
Britain is among many countries experiencing record-breaking temperatures this year, with four heatwaves coming alongside below-average rainfall in some areas and prolonged periods of drought.
The time spent under drought conditions could double if the 2C threshold is reached, according to the Climate Change Committee (CCC), an independent body tasked with advising the government.
The committee said in a report earlier this year that the UK was woefully underprepared for the disastrous effects of climate change, highlighting major failings in areas from agriculture to transport.
In a letter published on Wednesday, the CCC said ministers needed to prepare for “weather extremes that will be experienced if global warming levels reach 2C above pre-industrial levels by 2050”.
“We have to advise that the UK should be prepared for climate change beyond the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement,” it added.
Countries agreed in the 2015 Paris treaty to try to limit global warming to “well below” 2C, and aim for a 1.5C cap, which scientists warn is increasingly unattainable as human-driven climate change accelerates.
Experts have long warned that warming beyond 2C could make large parts of the planet uninhabitable.
The CCC said it was “clear” the UK was not yet adapted to the changes in climate it was currently experiencing “let alone those that are expected over the coming decades”.
It warned the chance of a heatwave occurring in a particular year would increase from 40 percent to 80 percent if global warming hit the 2C mark, and sea levels could rise by 15-25 cm.
The committee said the government needed to prepare for more intense and frequent heatwaves, drought, flooding, storms and wildfire conditions.
It recommended adapting infrastructure, including ensuring that new homes are resilient to higher temperatures.
British homes are generally designed to withstand cooler temperatures and retain heat during the winter and air conditioning is rare in houses, public buildings and transport networks.
Researchers have pointed out that older and vulnerable people living in poorly adapted homes face particular health risks from rising temperatures.
“People in the UK are already experiencing the impacts of a changing climate, and we owe it to them to prepare,” Julia King, chair of the CCC’s adaptation committee said.
“We need to see government treating adaptation with the same urgency that we have been able to treat cutting emissions.”
The CCC urged the government to use 2050 as a “horizon” for making necessary changes, including ambitious projects like reservoir construction, with ministers warning the UK also faces growing water shortages in the next decade.
Analysis of government data by the non-profit research organisation Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit earlier this month showed the UK had its second-worst harvest on record in 2025.
The group warned that supporting farmers to adapt to extreme conditions should be an “urgent priority for the government”.
Greenpeace UK’s chief scientist Douglas Parr said “alarm bells should be ringing in government” over the latest advisory.
“Doubled chances of heatwaves, droughts and wildfires will make life in the UK look very different, very quickly,” Parr said in a statement.
On Wednesday, the United Nations called for urgent action to slash emissions as its meteorological arm revealed the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere went up last year by the biggest increase ever recorded.
