On October 15, 2025, the United Kingdom’s independent climate advisers delivered a stark warning to the government: prepare now for a world that is at least 2 degrees Celsius warmer by 2050. This unprecedented call, issued by the Climate Change Committee (CCC), marks the first time the advisory group has explicitly urged the UK government to brace for such a dramatic rise in global temperatures. Their message is clear—current adaptation efforts are falling far short, and the risks to the nation’s people, infrastructure, and economy are mounting at an alarming pace.
The CCC’s letter, addressed directly to government officials, did not mince words about the urgency of the situation. According to the BBC, the committee stated that the country is “not yet adapted” to the worsening weather extremes already occurring at today’s warming levels, “let alone” what is expected to come. The advisers stressed that the UK must look beyond the long-term temperature goal set out in the Paris Agreement, which aimed to keep global warming well below 2C and ideally no more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. With that lower target now appearing increasingly out of reach, the CCC insists that preparations must be made for a hotter, more volatile future.
The warning comes at a time when the evidence of climate change’s impact on the UK is impossible to ignore. The Met Office confirmed that 2025 brought four official heatwaves, making it the hottest summer on record. In fact, Met Office climate scientists have found that a summer as hot or hotter than 2025 is now 70 times more likely than it would have been in a world without human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. These findings are echoed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which revealed that 2024 saw a record rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2)—the largest increase since modern measurements began in the late 1950s.
CO2, released primarily from the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities, is the main driver of climate change. As WMO Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett explained, “The heat trapped by CO2 and other greenhouse gases is turbo-charging our climate and leading to more extreme weather.” Barrett went on to emphasize that “reducing emissions is therefore essential not just for our climate but also for our economic security and community well-being.” These sentiments are underscored by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which has concluded that current CO2 levels are the highest they’ve been in at least two million years, based on long-term records from marine sediments and ice cores.
The CCC’s message is not just a warning—it’s a call to action. The committee urged the government to establish a framework of “clear long-term objectives” to prevent further temperature rise, with new targets set every five years and government departments held “clearly accountable” for delivering on those goals. The CCC also announced plans to release a major report in May 2026, which will outline in detail how the UK can adapt to the changes ahead and manage the inevitable “trade offs.”
This is not the first time the CCC has sounded the alarm. In April 2025, their annual report found that preparations for rising temperatures in the UK were “either too slow, have stalled, or [are] heading in the wrong direction.” The report warned that this lack of progress could leave the country dangerously exposed to serious economic and health impacts in the coming decades. From hospitals and care homes to food and water supplies, the risks are widespread and growing. The impacts are already being felt in schools, where preliminary findings from the Department for Education reported an average of 1.7 days of “extreme overheating,” resulting in lost learning time for students.
Looking ahead to a 2C world, the CCC outlined a grim forecast for the UK. The country can expect more frequent and severe heatwaves, increased droughts, greater risk of flooding, and an extended wildfire season stretching into autumn. These events are not distant threats; they are already beginning to reshape the British landscape and disrupt daily life.
Baroness Brown, chairwoman of the CCC adaptation committee, was candid in her assessment of the government’s response so far. “People in the UK are already experiencing the impacts of a changing climate, and we owe it to them to prepare, and also to help them prepare,” she told the BBC’s Today programme. She added, “Adaptation in the UK is not keeping up with the increase in climate risk. The impacts on the UK are getting worse and [the government] needs more ambition.”
Baroness Brown also addressed the political debate surrounding climate policy, singling out Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch for criticism. Badenoch has pledged to scrap the UK’s landmark climate change legislation and replace it with a new strategy focused on “cheap and reliable” energy. Baroness Brown described this promise as “disappointing,” expressing hope that the Conservative leader would “reflect on the fact that the act covers both adaptation and mitigation.”
The CCC’s recommendations come at a pivotal moment, as the UK and the world grapple with the consequences of failing to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The Paris Agreement, signed by nearly 200 countries in 2015, was hailed as a landmark effort to limit global temperature rise. Yet, as the CCC noted, the world is now on track to surpass the agreement’s targets, with 2C of warming looking increasingly likely by mid-century.
For the UK, the stakes could hardly be higher. The CCC’s call for a robust adaptation framework is a recognition that, while efforts to cut emissions must continue, the nation must also prepare for the realities of a warmer world. This means investing in resilient infrastructure, safeguarding food and water supplies, and protecting the most vulnerable communities from the worst impacts of climate change.
The committee’s insistence on clear accountability and regular progress checks reflects a growing consensus among scientists and policymakers that adaptation is no longer optional—it’s essential. As the CCC prepares its detailed adaptation report for release in May 2026, all eyes will be on the government’s response and whether it can rise to meet the challenge.
The message from the UK’s climate advisers is unambiguous: the time to act is now, before the window to prepare for a hotter, more unpredictable future closes for good.
