Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk
Read our comprehensive assessment of the risks and opportunities facing the UK from climate change.
Technical
reports
Explore the analysis and assessment of the level of risk or opportunity across the UK.
National
summaries
Explore the climate risks or opportunities across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Sector
briefings
Explore the climate risks or opportunities across the UK economy.
Research
and analysis
Explore the research and supporting analysis prepared for this comprehensive assessment of climate risk.
What is the Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk?
The UK Government is required, under the 2008 Climate Change Act, to publish a Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) every five years which is published on the UK Government website. The assessment sets out the risks and opportunities facing the UK from climate change.
The Climate Change Committee’s last independent advice report, informed the UK Government’s third CCRA (known as CCRA3). This website hosts all of the outputs for the UK Climate Risk Independent Assessment (CCRA3), from a technical report through to the research projects through to summaries of the advice. The UK Government and devolved administrations must then set out their response to the risks and opportunities in their national adaptation programmes.
Climate change in the UK
Adaptation is needed alongside global mitigation to manage the risks and opportunities from climate change in the UK. The climate has already changed, and further change is inevitable. How much climate change the UK experiences after 2050 is uncertain and will be dependent on global emissions reductions.
40.3°C
The hottest temperature recorded in the UK to date
Extreme high temperatures have increased twice as fast as average temperatures in recent decades. We are now six times more likely to see temperatures over 40°C than we were in the 1980s.
×2
Daily rainfall extremes are about twice as likely
The UK is getting wetter. The most recent decade is 10% wetter than the 1961–1990 period.
+19.5cm
UK sea levels have risen by 19.5cm since 1901
The rate of rise is accelerating and coastal sea surface temperatures have warmed by almost 1°C since 1961–1990.