How climate change worsens heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and floods

Human-caused climate change is making many extreme weather events more frequent or intense, with rising temperatures increasing the risk of severe heat, heavier rainfall and worsening drought. The effects can threaten health, homes, food production and water supplies, while also increasing the conditions that allow wildfires to spread.

The UK’s summer of 2026 was its hottest on record, with five widespread heatwaves and 40 days above 30C; the Met Office said climate change made it 130 times more likely. Each 1C rise in air temperature allows the atmosphere to hold about 7% more moisture, and UK winters were 13% wetter in 2016–25 than in 1961–90. Climate change can also worsen drought by shifting rainfall patterns and increasing evaporation, though natural factors such as El Niño make individual droughts difficult to attribute.