|
 |
Climate newsletter |
|
|
Spotlight on 'climate solutions to build resilience' |
|
Climate science has progressed from simply defining the challenges of climate variability and change towards being part of the solution, building our resilience to withstand the adverse effects of climate change.
In collaboration with international organisations we’re advancing the global understanding of climate change through ground-breaking research that underpins critical services and advice to support communities, industry and government to managing exposure to climate variability and change.
Building resilience in urban areas
As our climate changes and extreme weather becomes more common, cities and towns will need to enhance their resilience against climate risks. You can read about how adaptation action in urban areas provide direct benefits to the local population, but also indirect benefits to those connected to the region.
|
|
Climate change: Red Cross reasons to be hopeful
The Red Cross estimates that 96% of all disasters they responded to last year were caused by extreme weather. The effects of climate change are happening now, and here the Red Cross and Red Crescent demonstrate how their work on projects across the world is making a real difference to vulnerable communities affected by climate change.
|
|
Climate change drives increase in storm rainfall
 Human-induced climate change made the heavy storm downpours and total rainfall across the UK and Ireland between October 2023 and March 2024 more frequent and intense, according to a rapid attribution analysis by an international team of leading climate scientists.
Scientists from each of the National Meteorological Services that make up the Western Europe storm naming group (Met Office, Met Éireann and KNMI) were involved in the World Weather Attribution (WWA) coordinated study.
In a pre-industrial climate, rainfall from storms as intense as the 2023-24 season, occurred at most once every 50 years. However, in today’s climate, with 1.2°C global of warming, similarly intense storm rainfall is expected to occur more often, about once every five years.
Climate change has also increased the amount of rainfall from these storms, making them about 20% more intense. If global warming reaches 2°C, storm rainfall could become around 4% more intense and will be expected to occur about once every three years.
 As the climate continues to change, and areas of land that once contained varied, natural habitats are being repurposed for other uses, biodiversity is decreasing. This is an issue that must be addressed, as all of us are dependent on the Earth having healthy and diverse ecosystems that provide our food, water, medicines, and so much more. While nature-based solutions help to protect nature, they help us mitigate the worst impacts of climate change while helping us to adapt to the climate change we are already committed to.
Today is the United Nation’s International Day for Biological Diversity, and this year’s theme is “be a part of the plan”. Everyone has a part to play in restoring and maintaining biodiversity, including the Met Office.
|
|
Climate Change Risk Assessment – Call for evidence
The Met Office is leading a consortium which will produce a Technical Report to inform the 4th Climate Change Risk Assessment Independent Assessment (CCRA4-IA). This will be published by the Climate Change Committee in 2026, and the consortium is currently gathering evidence for the Technical Report.
The Technical Report provides the full analysis for 61 climate change risks and opportunities for the UK. It is a vital component of the CCRA4 risk assessment published by the Climate Change Committee, which is a statutory requirement of the Climate Change Act (2008).
The consortium includes experts from the Met Office Academic Partnership, the UK National Climate Science Partnership, the private sector and the third sector to provide the most useful assessment of UK climate risks.
The “Call for Evidence” is an important part of the CCRA4-IA Technical Report methodology. We’re keen to access knowledge from a broad range of stakeholders. In addition to academic papers, we are also keen to tap into other relevant information eg. a PhD or Master’s thesis, conference proceedings, project reports, webinars, internal presentations or reports, blogs, etc.
The call for evidence is open until 30 June 2025. You can submit you evidence and find out more in the link below. The process should take less than ten minutes to complete.
|
|
State of the Climate in Latin America and the Caribbean 2023
On 8 May, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published the latest State of the Climate report for Latin America and the Caribbean. This confirmed that it was by far the warmest year on record.
|
|
|
UK Climate Projections Webinar Series - Thurs 23 May 12-1pm
Join us for our May UK Climate Projections webinar tomorrow from midday. We’ll be joined by Michelle Spillar, Associate Consultant from AtkinsRealis. Michelle will speak about applying UKCP18 products for climate screening and risk assessment to inform Transport Scotland’s Trunk Road Adaptation Plan. There will also be an opportunity for you to ask questions.
Michelle supports clients across the UK (and internationally) to understand climate risk and enhance their climate resilience. Michelle will share how they have used future climate information, the challenges they have encountered and approaches they have used for overcoming some of these challenges.
The webinars are recorded and published on YouTube afterwards. If you missed our previous webinar in March, you can with it catch-up now.
Decadal forecast to be published soon
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) will shortly publish the latest decadal forecast, which includes the latest likelihood of recording record-breaking global temperatures within the next five years. The ‘near-term’ climate predictions are produced on behalf of WMO by the Met Office on an annual basis.
Reading Climate Festival
We’re joining forces with Reading Borough Council alongside other partners to support the town’s fifth annual Reading Climate Festival.
Throughout June, Reading Borough Council and Reading Climate Action Network will host a range of events, starting with Water Fest on Saturday 8 June and ending on Show Your Stripes Day on Friday 21 June. These events will raise awareness about climate change and show how individuals, communities and organisations are coming together to share advice, knowledge and play an active part in helping to build greater resilience to climate change.
Follow us on our social media accounts using the #GetClimateReady to find out actions everyone can take to help tackle climate change and to celebrate what has already been.
|
|
|
Follow us on social media channels to join the conversation. Look our for our hashtag - #GetClimateReady - on X (formerly Twitter), and follow our climate channels on TikTok and Instagram.
You might also be interested in our new Government and Industry Newsletters. Subscribe here.
|
|
|
To subscribe or unsubscribe please visit our email updates page to access your preferences.
The Met Office is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
|
|
|
|
|
