As global temperature rises hit 1.3C above pre-industrial levels, the UK is waking up to a potential health crisis.

Without the emissions reductions delivered since the 2015 Paris Agreement, projections show deaths could have increased more than fifty-fold under a 4.3C warming. The Paris framework has already helped slow the pace of warming from a slowdown in emissions, but even with these reductions, the ECIU is forecasting respiratory issues, sleepless nights, and for increasing numbers, life-threatening risks across the UK.

Heat is already taking a toll. The Lancet Countdown’s latest report states that one person is killed every minute due to rising global heat. In 2024, England recorded 1,311 heat-related deaths, and these figures likely understate the true scale of impact.

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Imperial College London found that climate change intensified Europe’s 2025 heatwave, contributing to 16,500 additional deaths across the continent including 1,147 deaths in the UK. In London alone, 315 deaths were linked to extreme heat which is a reminder that there aren’t just continental statistics, but realities playing out at home.

The implications range further than direct health, and the UK Climate Risk Assessment estimates that heat-related mortality, lost productivity and health treatment cost £6.8bn annually in the 2020s, rising to £14bn by mid-century.

Peoples suffer from places as well, and with much of Britain’s housing stock being poorly adapted to hotter conditions, around one in five homes currently overheat during summer.

Global warming can create a major ripple across many aspects of the UK’s life, including food production and transport, health and housing. Just in case if seemed liked energy security is being pushed to the forefront of the debate, its always worth taking all aspects into account.

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