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 Government website. The assessment sets out the risks and opportunities facing the UK from climate change.

The Climate Change Committee’s latest 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.

+1°C

Warmer than
pre-industrial period

The average annual UK temperature is around 1.2°C warmer than the pre-industrial period.

×2

Twice the likelihood
of a hot summer

The chances of experiencing hot summers like in 2018 have doubled in recent decades and are now about 10-25% per year. This will rise to 50% by 2050, i.e. on average, every other summer will be as hot or hotter than 2018

+16cm

Rise in sea level
since 1900

UK average sea level has risen by 16cm since 1900, and will continue to rise for centuries due to time lags in the climate system.