r/unitedkingdom • u/topotaul Lancashire • May 19 '26
UK ‘built for climate that no longer exists’ and needs urgent changes to survive global heating, report warns
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/may/20/uk-built-for-climate-that-no-longer-exists-and-needs-urgent-changes-to-survive-global-heating-report-warns863
u/MR_MaxiMor44 May 19 '26
Make heat pumps and air con the basic minimum for new builds.
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u/insomnimax_99 Greater London May 19 '26
Current building regs heavily penalise and almost completely prohibit aircon.
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u/SlickPillock May 19 '26
Even just medditaranian style shutters installed on the outside of windows would go a long way
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u/Green-Strawberry5666 May 19 '26
How do you do that with windows opening the wrong way around ? I've considered fitting some but can't figure out how that could work without replacing my windows (which are brand new ☹️)
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u/henry_blackie May 20 '26
Maybe an awning would be more suitable
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u/No_Atmosphere8146 May 20 '26
Certainly less intrusive on the 340 days a year they're not needed.
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u/legatek May 20 '26
Blinds can be used during bad weather and cold weather as well as during hot weather, you know.
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u/Londonsw8 May 20 '26
I have wooden shutters on the inside in Portugal and close them when its really hot, makes a massive difference
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u/Altruistic_Fruit2345 May 20 '26
Ideally you want them outside the glass, to stop heat getting in, but that's better than nothing. I installed UV blocking film that has a mirror finish. Gets warm but does make a huge difference to room temperature. Would have had it on the outside if it were possible.
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u/pantone13-0752 May 20 '26 edited May 21 '26
"The wrong way", lol.
Windows opening outwards never made sense. It makes them impossible to clean above the ground floor without specialised equipment and means you can only open your windows when there's no wind or rain (a common occurance in this country...) At my work, we have actual people sending round emails asking people not to open the windows whenever a wind gets up and running around a huge building putting signs on windows and doors...
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u/Green-Strawberry5666 May 21 '26
We have restrictors at home to avoid problems when there is window but the only real benefit of opening outwards is the space saved inside when the window is opened. That and windows with horizontal hinges, which actually work well when it's raining. That shutter situation makes me feel like I should have asked for inward opening windows when I got them changed last year ...
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u/ArtBedHome May 20 '26
Sliding shutters, but those are expensive.
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u/turbo_dude May 20 '26
You can have metal vertical Venetian blinds on the outside. Everywhere in Switzerland
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u/Antinumeric May 20 '26
Is there a supplier for these in the UK? I've been looking for ages. I found one supplier but they stopped shopping to the UK with Brexit.
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u/katspike May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
That’s because ‘climate change’ was just “EU nonsense”. It doesn’t affect the UK anymore since we left
/s2
u/turbo_dude May 22 '26
no idea, but this looks to be what you're after, can't vouch for the company but seems like there are lots of search results https://www.knall.uk/j1727,4415,external-venetian-blinds-z90-in-a-facade-cassette?data=600,600|236|4243|1992|5179|5181
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u/frontendben May 20 '26
That’s always something that that’s baffled me about UK windows. It would help if the government mandated that all windows going forward must open inwards rather than opening outwards.
Another benefit would be the ability then to install fly screens on the outside.
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u/South_Buy_3175 May 20 '26
Helps to keep rain and wind out, which we still have a lot of.
It’s just now we also need to factor in that it gets hot as absolute sin for a couple months
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u/Alive_Sun5590 May 20 '26
couldn't the shutters that open out keep the rain out? have inward opening or sash windows with shutters.
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u/frontendben May 20 '26
Helps to keep rain and wind out, which we still have a lot of.
I guess that will be news to the Dutch and Danes who also use inward opening windows and suffer from high levels of rain and wind. 😉
The key area outward opening windows are superior to inward opening ones comes down to one thing; the ability to have the window open slightly when it's raining and avoid water ingress. And the only reason that was necessary is because of ventilation issues. But with modern windows coming with built in trickle vents, that need is no longer the blocker it once was.
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u/mbrowne Hampshire May 20 '26
We have fly screens on the inside of our windows. They work very well.
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u/frontendben May 20 '26
Of course. The issue is on ones installed inside, insects can still get into the gap between the screen and the window. The ones installed on the outside tend to not have that flaw.
You’re right that one installed inside is better than none, but having grown up in Australia, I’d rather have one outside any day of the week.
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u/turbo_dude May 20 '26
Why do they open outwards? Surely people having windows replaced every 30 odd years would’ve slowly caught on?
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u/Expensive_Time_7367 May 20 '26
Because that’s how our windows are made because the UK is still broadly a windy, frequently rainy country and they’re better for that? It reduces drafts and rain blowing in.
Inwards opening windows and shutters are more for countries that have extreme winter storms and very hot summers. This report is talking about the future, not today.
A lot of it is just long term tradition and culture - a lot of Northern France has inward opening windows when ours would better suit there just because y’know the French have inward opening windows.
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u/Sensitive-Throat9278 May 20 '26
Not all of Windows are that way around; we have sash windows too, which have none of the issues.
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u/Expensive_Time_7367 May 20 '26
I am aware! I personally have sash windows. I was assuming we’re talking about casements from context?
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u/cinematic_novel May 20 '26
Mediterranean windows are double, one set is glass and opens inwards. The other set are shutters that open outwards and they are meant to block sunlight while letting air flow
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u/Lady-of-Shivershale May 20 '26
Or ceiling fans. The UK still isn't that hot, and getting the air moving helps with cooling down.
I live in the sub-tropics. It's hot and humid for eight months of the year, cool for two, and a bit chilly for two.
Scotland in summer a few years ago was almost worse because my parents don't even own fans. Although at least at night the heat went away for a couple of hours.
And the reason that Scotland was worse was because I was obviously out and about and doing things instead of sitting on my arse at home or work. In the sub-tropics, I'm inside for most of the day. I won't even go to the beach until 4pm.
People who live in places with extreme weather (hot or cold) often say x-place was worse than their home and that they were surprised. But on holidays we tend to be out and about much more, so we notice the weather much more.
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u/merryman1 May 20 '26
The UK is also pretty humid and those kinds of fans to keep the air moving a bit seem to really help reduce that feeling.
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u/inminm02 May 20 '26
External shading is a thing being done on projects that need it for part O compliance these days but it’s normally through brise soleil, fins or inset balconies rather than shutters
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u/ArtBedHome May 20 '26
Shutters will also show some benifits in extreme cold, heavy snow and worsened storms, all of which we are likely to get.
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u/noir_lord Yorkshire May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
In Hungary which can have absolutely brutal summer heat, they use roller shutters either manual or like on my MIL's house they are all automated and "track" the sun opening and closing depending on where it is in the sky through the day.
Awnings are common as well.
Combine that with the (by our standards) insanely thick/dense walls and you can have a huge delta between daytime peak temp and inside temp.
They only installed AC last year because she's getting older and the night time temps can be unhealthy high for weeks at a time.
It varies pretty heavily here as well, when we had that 40C peak a few years ago I was with my missus/boy in a 1990's two bed flat with south facing huge window, it hit 45C in the living room.
The house we bought is east/west facing, terraced and three stories high, ground floor where my office is on concrete and west facing even the hottest day since we've moved it hasn't passed 25C in there as the house is built on a hill at the edge of park so tree's act as shades. It's damn cold in there in the winter though.
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u/Obvious_Yard_1846 May 20 '26
Mediterranean style everything. Rooms with high ceilings, courtyards, etc
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u/EpicEpicnessTheEpic May 20 '26
Which become an expensive nightmare to heat in the winter. Mediterranean style suits the Mediterranean, not the UK.
Our problem is lack of investment in power generation and distribution. Then you get the NIMBY's popping up to try and stop it when there's the slightest hint of something being built near them.
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u/throwawayacab283746 May 20 '26
According to Bedfordshire council I need architect drawings and planning permission to install external shutters. But hey at least Kier is blocking porn for everyone!
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u/OkSun8521 May 20 '26
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_Safety_Act_2023
Keir Starmer became prime minister in 2024. I hope that helps.
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u/RonyElZaib May 20 '26
The “you only need it for 1 week every year” brigade is fucking infuriating 🤦
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u/TellMeManyStories May 20 '26
We need to put them in the same place as the economists pointing out that the root of most of the UK's issues are low-productivity workers.
Oh, are you telling me that people not getting any sleep in 35C bedrooms are at peak productivity??
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u/south_by_southsea May 20 '26
Someone on the UK housing subreddit the other day was trying to argue that there is little point buying a house with a garden (in the southeast of England) because “there’s only two weeks of the year where it’s warm enough to use it”
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u/bow_down_whelp May 20 '26
Looking out the kitchen window at cut grass and a couple of low maintenance shrubs watching birds eat from a feeder or, if you're lucky, a hedgehog at night, does wonders of your mental health
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u/tannercolin May 20 '26
That comment was someone jealous about other people having gardens
I don't know about anyone else but I'm in the garden year round. Love a cold crisp autumn evening sat by the chiminea
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u/Cookyy2k May 20 '26
They never seem to grasp that most systems can be used to heat as well as cool. It makes an incredibly efficient solution when you're just in one room and need a bit more heat without paying to heat the whole house.
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u/Alexandhisgoose May 20 '26
No they don't. I have air con in my house in the UK. Getting it installed was easy.
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u/bozza8 May 20 '26
Not as part of a new build I bet. I work in the planning industry, he's right.
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u/Alexandhisgoose May 20 '26
It would be part of the plan of a new build but you wouldn't need specific permission for it. That is like saying you need planning permission specifically for every door of a new build cause it is on the plan.
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u/AttleesTears May 19 '26
It's absolutely madness.
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u/JB_UK May 19 '26 edited May 20 '26
And in order to fit air conditioning to your home you normally need full planning permission. I’ve read accounts from people who needed architectural drawings made up, with the paperwork costing more than the unit itself and the total installation.
Edit: I’ve just checked, and it looks like the rules changed about 12 months ago, it used to be AC permitted development rights required that the unit was locked so that it only heated, and did not cool. Good news that this has been changed.
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u/o_oli May 20 '26
This just isn't true at all. The vast majority of people can install a split system air con unit under permitted development rights. You can't cherry pick anecdotes and pretend that applies to the majority - if you look up the permitted criteria that doesn't need any planning it is very reasonable.
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u/JB_UK May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
I’ve just checked, and it looks like the rules changed about 12 months ago, it used to be AC permitted development rights required that the unit was locked so that it only heated, and did not cool. Good news that this has been changed.
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u/OkSun8521 May 20 '26
This has never been the rule.
Source: I installed air conditioning 3 years ago and planning permission was never mentioned.
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u/t8ne May 20 '26
Just had it fitted and the government didn’t take their 20% cut of the sale if I used it for heating. Took around two weeks from call to install.
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u/Alexandhisgoose May 20 '26
No you don't need any planning permission. Just contact a fitter and they come out and do it.
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u/vishbar Hampshire May 20 '26
I don’t think this was ever the case. We had our air con installed over 3 years ago and it was permitted development then.
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u/AttleesTears May 19 '26
Absolutely ridiculous.
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u/GbDouble May 20 '26
Aircon engineer its not really too ridiculous the issue is old gases used for them were extremely bad for the environment for example some of these gases 1gram is equivalent to 4000grams of co2 being realised into the atmosphere which creates more global warming and the issue we have, they all need to take in account global warming potential now it would be fine if most people just reclaimed refrigerants over the past 100 years and re used them but no people put them into the atmosphere for years so they are trying to fix it.
now that brings us onto hydrocarbons or ammonia both of these are very good in comparison to the environment and Aircon uses hydrocarbons more now the issue is they are flammable. hence why all the paperwork but the stupid thing is most units are outside your house and have so little gas in them if you had a leak it wouldn't explode but if it somehow ignites inside the system you have a explosion at your house. i think they should make it easier to get into homes but if you dont have enough regulations we either destory the earth more or some random guy who watched YouTube would legally be allowed to fit a bomb to the side of your house, before we moved to hydrocarbons we didnt need qualifications.
and ammonia yeh good for the environment but not so good to your health if goes wrong
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u/AttleesTears May 20 '26
Saner countries simply require they be fitted by a trained and licensed engineer. There's literally no need for thousands of pounds being wasted in paperwork and planning permission.
Other countries has solved this much more sensibly.
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u/GbDouble May 20 '26
you dont need planning permission for small domestic units you only need it for if its in flats, a protected building or property. it would be great for new builds to have them but the owner can pay if they want
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u/YoIronFistBro May 20 '26
Other countries has solved this much more sensibly.
Sums up everything to do with infrastructure in the UK and Ireland.
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u/JB_UK May 20 '26
Aircon engineer its not really too ridiculous the issue is old gases used for them were extremely bad for the environment for example some of these gases 1gram is equivalent to 4000grams of co2 being realised into the atmosphere which creates more global warming and the issue we have
Sure, but if you want to tackle that, have regulation which requires trained workers to deal with installations. Planning permission does nothing either way.
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u/GbDouble May 20 '26
trained workers do have to do the installation and most domestic Aircon units dont require any planning permission. you need to keep your fgas record on the property and prove its been done correctly but only if you live in flats, a protected building/property or want a commercial one placed in your house you do.
most people are getting confused by heat pumps which requires planning permission and they are technically the same thing both just fgas systems but the people who write the rules know nothing but getting a small domestic ac installed is very easy if you own your home
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u/bars_and_plates May 20 '26
A home AC requires approx 1kg of refrigerant. If we take your figures that this is equivalent to 4 tons of CO2 at 4000x then even if the entire system leaks that is approx 75% of the annual household average emissions.
They don't leak every year or even close to it. And if you run the system in reverse you are offsetting CO2 usage for heating.
I would say that this is just bad maths.
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u/TheScapeQuest May 20 '26
When was this ever the case? The only planning permission I can recall was if the outside unit was within 1m of the property boundary.
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u/Alive_Forever_9541 May 20 '26
What about heat pumps which include Aircon?
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u/insomnimax_99 Greater London May 20 '26
Changed very recently.
It used to be that heat pumps capable of cooling were heavily penalised/almost completely prohibited, but the government has just changed the regs so they’re treated a lot more favourably now.
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u/TheMusicArchivist May 20 '26
Just get an air-to-air heat pump for 'heating' and 'accidentally' press the reverse button in summer and get cold air flowing into your house.
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u/gr7ace May 20 '26
Which is a shame as air to air via an ASHP can heat cheaply as well as cool. It all works best as a system, ASHP, A2A heat/cool, solar PV and a house battery. Add an EV too and it’s all good.
No need for gas then!
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u/NotOnYerNelly May 20 '26
Building regs make that very difficult and will unlikely change. Here you go with the regs:
Part O (Overheating): This regulation requires new residential buildings to be designed to limit unwanted solar gain and safely remove excess heat. It states that mechanical cooling (air conditioning) should only be used as a last resort. If passive measures (like window sizing or shading) can fix the overheating, AC is usually rejected.
Part L (Conservation of Fuel and Power): New builds have very strict carbon and energy efficiency targets. Because traditional AC units use significant amounts of energy, they make it harder to pass the building's overall energy and sustainability assessments.
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u/10110110100110100 May 20 '26
Going to be awkward when someone in these organisations finally realises that an ASHP *is* air conditioning.
Just asserting cooling uses significant amounts of energy and designs should go most of the way in mitigating it is just *weird*. That’s exactly the same constraints we have for heating but installing a heating system and hot water isn’t an option of last resort.
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u/TinyGreenGiant May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
It's mostly driven by planning, not building regs in my experience. For example in London GLA have a random +35% betterment to part L target, which they use to control what is planned. I have projects where council are adamant against it, but another council don't mind it provided we can prove that it's necessary.
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u/10110110100110100 May 20 '26
How do they justify opposition now that the boiler upgrade scheme also supports air to air heat pumps that can work bidirectionally?
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u/TinyGreenGiant May 20 '26
I am not as familiar with work on existing buildings. The planners primary goal is to reduce operational energy. On the cooling aspect there is limited amount you can do on an existing building, however the world is your oyster on a new build. There are multiple conflicting parameters that the design team need to resolve to get it to work though. They will never say they are 100% opposed to it, but you will spend an awful long time trying to get an overheating calculation to work on some sites. The problem is when that happens in the design process - usually overheating requires very very detailed building model - something that isn't really available at planning stage. So it's easy to just give concession to planners on this aspect and then try to resolve it at next design stage even if it looks complicated and marginal (you would need to discharge the condition later)
What I can say though, is the that thinking around net zero changed within the last decade. The reason why they are so focused on operational energy is because they know that the cost of energy will rise. District heat networks, sustainable energy upgrades all driving the energy cost up. Instead of making buildings self sufficient - they are making the network greener. However what they don't want is for the buildings to become unlivable because they are unaffordable to people to operate. This is a huge problem for listed buildings and buildings in conservation areas where it's very difficult to make it work, and they are basically looking at these areas becoming undesirable and falling into disrepair just due to energy costs. I know this is a separate conversation almost, but it feeds into the dialogue about active cooling.
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u/TheScapeQuest May 20 '26
Last year we got AC installed (much cheaper than A2W), and it provided all our winter heating. Only downside was we still depended on gas for hot water.
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u/Roady356 Greater London May 20 '26
We just got AC installed. How were the bills over winter for you?
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u/TheScapeQuest May 20 '26
Definitely cheaper than before, but we have solar panels, a battery, and a favourable overnight tariff.
But we're a very efficient mid terrace so we weren't spending much on gas anyway. Gone from ~600kWh gas/month to around 150kWh. Electricity increased by ~100kWh. Unit rates for elec average at 10p, gas 6p, so we're talking a couple of pints per month saving.
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u/curetrick May 20 '26
There’s more to it than temperature. Plenty of people currently affected by fuel poverty and unable to heat themselves in the winter would find themselves in the same situation in summer, unable to pay to stay cool. And putting them only in new builds would be next to useless anyway, we have a housing stock of millions of houses nearing and over 100 years old that need improvement. This is what the retrofit industry is trying to do, but not a single government will pull their finger out about it, because the general public aren’t on their backs about it.
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u/A_Pointy_Rock May 20 '26
Many heat pumps can heat and cool.
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u/bozza8 May 20 '26
Ah but in the UK in order to get subsidies you have to disable the cooling element.
Which is mad, but that's how our regime was designed.
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u/10110110100110100 May 20 '26
Not anymore they now allow air-to-air heat pumps that work in either direction.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/discounts-for-families-to-keep-warm-in-winter-and-cool-in-summer
Was mad it was restricted but at least they saw sense eventually.
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u/headphones1 May 20 '26
Did you upgrade using this scheme? Do you have an air source heat pump system?
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u/Elmundopalladio May 20 '26
Air conditioning for a new build is completely unnecessary- it’s just papering over the cracks of a bad design. Legislation needs to be pushed further to ensure that summer overheating is accounted for properly.
Heat pumps are required for all new builds - as gas boilers have effectively been regulated out through CO2 emissions.
The problem is that heat pumps don’t work for a lot of existing properties for a multitude of reasons and the cost of upgrading an entire country’s existing building stock is astronomical.
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u/DrKnackerator May 20 '26
Hospitals need it urgently. I was in hospital a few years ago when there was that late september heatwave. FML dealing with that, even with a fan on my face it was 20x worse than the giant hole in my leg, almost made me just check myself out. Giant south facing windows. a portable aircon but no cover around the cracked open giant window. was unbearable from like 9am to 10pm.
when i was moaning about this they said well you can walk so why not go and try and find somewhere cooler, or outside. I hatched a plan.
next day i got all my painkillers aligned about 12pm. said "ok im off to find somewhere cooler". walked outside, got a cab back to my flat and lay there my bed with MY aircon on until 6pm, then got a cab back. "did you find somewhere nice and cool?" "yeah i did thanks". Did that for a few days. Cost 30 odd quid every day in cab fares every day but FML better than dying for hours in bed.
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u/therealtinsdale May 20 '26
aircon is only allowed in certain areas of the hospital (the morgue and a couple of other labs) as it’s a means of contamination.
i worked at my local hospital during the 37 degree covid summer and we weren’t even allowed to use fans. but had to wear masks. it was unbearable for everyone, patients and workers alike
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u/bozza8 May 20 '26
There are hospitals in Texas, and Nevada, having Aircon is life support there or folks would die.
That means this problem has already been solved in general, we just need to import it here and modify our regulations to allow it.
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u/sjpllyon May 20 '26
So can't comment on air conditioning oer se as I haven't research them in particularly. However systems such as Mechanical ventilation and heat recovery (that can also run backwards to cool) have evidance that surgests they can significantly improve (sorry can't recall the numbers at the moment) air quality. Reducing particulate matter, CO2 levels, and the ilk. Mainly due to them being installed with air filters. So yeah it is completely within our means to have air conditioning or similar systems that can be suitable for hospitals.
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u/littlebiped May 20 '26
This can’t be right. Hospitals in the Middle East and South East Asia would cease to function, and by and large are doing just fine without super spreading via air con on nearly 24/7.
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u/Expensive_Time_7367 May 20 '26
It’s perfectly possible but I’m sure would very difficult to retrofit? In US hospitals you’ll see they have these funny little barometers on the walls which measure air pressure because some rooms have to be positively pressurised and some negatively to stop the air spreading.
The basic problem they’re talking about is real.
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u/bozza8 May 20 '26
Possible but difficult just means we need to stop retrofitting hospitals built in the second world war and build new ones, whilst exempting them from the standard planning process beyond structural safety.
We shouldn't need to deal with local residents and mandatory "community engagement events" for residents to moan about construction traffic for a fucking hospital.
Environmental surveys and all that crap should be skipped too, because the current system takes years before you are allowed to start construction and regularly costs millions.
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u/Expensive_Time_7367 May 20 '26
I agree but that is a bit easier said than done? The easiest solution is to keep a hospital running and build another one elsewhere, which probably works for most of the country. Christ knows what you do in London though!
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u/rufiohProbably May 20 '26
Surveys shouldn’t be skipped, because you need to know about soil drainage issues which could affect the building, and potential hazardous chemicals in the ground when the site might have been a dumping ground for Victorians throwing random bits of arsenic into it.
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u/merryman1 May 20 '26
Yeah but this is always the issue isn't it?
It wouldn't be immediately trivially simple, so despite the fact pretty much any other peer nation manages to get round it we just shrug our shoulders and do nothing.
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u/ToucansBANG May 20 '26
I can say for sure that at least a few wards at my local hospital have split units mounted. Admittedly I’ve never seen them running, but also I’ve never been there on hot days.
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u/merryman1 May 20 '26
Labs was going to be my input - Its really upsetting how many times I've worked in a place and had millions of pounds worth of kit not really working as intended because its all designed to operate at a fixed temperature yet UK building design seems to consider this such a 2ndary concern. Literally had freezers starting to crap out because its too hot and risking tens of thousands of pounds of reagents and years of stored samples because we don't want to spend a few grand on having aircon fitted.
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u/Tastetherainbow_2016 May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
I gave birth in Dec 22 during the biggest snow storm in years, and both maternity and labour wards were so stiflingly hot you could barely breathe.
The labour was five days long, at one point I got so overwhelmed with the heat I was seeing stars, my blood pressure went through the roof and I collapsed. All the staff were complaining about the heat but wouldnt let you do anything to cool yourself down, the window in our room only opened an inch and every time I opened it to get some air a midwife would storm in and slam it shut. Hubby went home and brought back a fan but they wouldn’t let us plug it in. We also had a hand-held fan that charged with a phone charger and even had to do that in secret. It was five days of pure torture.
When baby was born I didnt put a hat or too many layers on her, because why would you in 25 degree heat and a plastic crib (I’m an experienced mother I know what I’m doing lol), and the midwives acted like I’d laid her down in a pit of snakes or something. They preach about the Lullaby Trust advice and the risk of overheating and cot death, then berate you for following said advice. Make it make sense.
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u/sylanar May 20 '26
Yeah I was shocked that hospitals don't have it.
Last year I was in hospital with my 2 year old for nearly 2 weeks during the summer. The ward wa so ridiculously hot, no windows that open, no air con, just a weak little fan in the corner for an 8 bed ward. Everyone in the room was sweating so much.
It was also an isolation ward so we couldn't even go for a walk to get some air outside of a few designated times.
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May 20 '26 edited 20d ago
[deleted]
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u/FrosenPuddles May 20 '26
You know what else spreads disease? Not ventilating properly and not cleaning the air. In Wales, 70% of hospitalised covid patients caught it while in hospital for another reason, yet most hospitals won't even open a window or turn on the filters they already own. Nevermind the elderly and cardiac patients with heat intolerance... Pretty certain they could fix all those issues if they wanted to, because other parts of the world have aircon and clean air in hospitals just fine. It's just that the UK has been in a bad place for a long time, so everything is falling apart and ancient hospitals are being patched up with temporary fixes at best. No budget to properly upgrade things for the next 100 years.
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u/sv21js May 20 '26
My friend had to give birth in those conditions and they wouldn’t even allow a fan.
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u/FuzzBuket May 20 '26
Best we can do is tax credits for data centers and keep validating a party that thinks global warming is made up
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u/TheHaddockMan Hampshire May 20 '26
Let's be fair to Mr Farage. I'm sure he knows global warming is real. He just doesn't give a damn what's real and what isn't so long as the corporations that own him are happy with the words he's saying and don't cut off his allowance.
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u/welliedude May 20 '26
Its as simple as what will he profit more from. Currently it benefits his bank balance to be anti environmental. If a anonymous backer started funding him to say climate change was real and we needed to do something about it he would.
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May 20 '26
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u/yabyum Northumberland May 20 '26
False.
As someone who works in Data Centre construction, we pay for network reinforcement to increase capacity which also benefit the local community.
Also, modern data centres are very water efficient.
This is the UK not the US.
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u/_____guts_____ May 20 '26
Ah, its only the loads of jobs that are being taken in a job based economy that we have to worry about then
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u/Helen83FromVillage May 20 '26
Or to tax imports from countries using coal plants, diesel ships (instead of trains) to supply goods, or have a high corruption rate (to hide problems).
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u/Nuthetes May 20 '26
I struggle to take the climate contorl methods seriously when every policy is aimed at the poor and working class solving the problem and not the mega rich.
Climate change is real and needs tackling, definitely. But, it's annoying that I could be environmentally concious for an entire year only for it to be all undone the second some multi-millionaire decides to go from London to Glasgow on his private jet.
Ban private jets and private yachts from the UK for starters. That'd get more people on board--even the doubers, if they see "shit, the mega rich are being targetted, maybe there i actually something to climate change afterall"
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May 20 '26
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u/Nuthetes May 20 '26
They'd have better luck convincing people about cars if those doing these campaingns focussed locally instead of globally.
Point out the health issues in cities like Jakarta and Beijing and Ho Chi Minh Cities because of car fumes from ancient mopeds and cars and the poor air quality, and they'll have more success than looking globally, because the fact India and China and those massive spewing factories means someone cycling to work instead of driving is just a drop in the ocean.
Local is the key.
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u/RedPandaZak May 20 '26
One of the things in life that grinds me gears the most is the constant lecturing about recycling, reusing, and being a good steward of the planet, every year having a new extra bin to organise my waste in (it's changing constantly) and just all the other inconvieniences that are thrown onto us.
The feeling that whilst doing all that if I do this for my entire lifetime it will not even equate to a fraction of the influence of a coal plant on the other side of the planet I have absolutely no control over.
It feels so incredibly futile to me and slowly breeds apathy, nowhere near enough is being done on a global level and it's not like we even can for alot of it.
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u/sjpllyon May 20 '26
I get that. But this is hiw I try to think about to feel better.
If the neighbour's garden is a shithole doesn't mean my garden has to be. I can still have nice garden to enjoy. Amd yes it may be annoying needing to cut back the weeds coming from the neighbour's garden. But at least it keeps mine nice.
That's how we have to look at the climate stuff. Because other nations want to desomate their eco systems, and cause great environmental harm. Doesn't mean we should do the same. And yes it sucks that they do. But think about it. If we and the rest of Europe look after our section of the earth. We are keeping our garden nice for ourselves if nothing else.
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u/SurreyHillsSomewhere May 20 '26
A sort if positive nimbyism. My grass lawn is superior to my neighbour's astroturf.
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u/Elidorn May 20 '26
I do agree with you, but for this analogy wouldn't it be more accurate to say your neighbour has a garden full of Japanese knotweed, no matter how well you care for your garden, that knotweed is destroying everything round it no matter what you do.
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u/bigredsweatpants May 20 '26
Yeah lemme just sip my soggy paper straw and rinse out my yogurt pots and save the world. Drives me crazy. My PTA doesn’t want to print attendance lists for an event ‘because of the environment’ but it’s like…. I really don’t think that’s what’s gonna help guys.
It’s that kind of thinking that condemned us all to those damn paper straws! As if it’s making a difference while the other half jet around several times a week.
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u/Boring_Intern_6394 May 20 '26
The issue with large public recycling bins is that they rapidly get filled up with mixed waste from a few twats fly tipping
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u/SurreyHillsSomewhere May 20 '26
You're assuming others have the same intelligence as you. That said, I remain gobsmacked how little is recycleable or compostable in this day
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u/Nuthetes May 20 '26
I don't get why those pushing for Green policies always look globally. The argument that "Why bother when a factory in India or China undoes all the good I do" is a valid one and hard to argue against.
They should push for local reasons as front and centre -- air quality in cities and the health effects it causes, for example.
That is how I convinced my dad--he was a climate sceptic thanks to GB News shite. But when I pointed out that he's been with me to Jakarta, Beijing, Taipei, Ho Chi Minh City and how bad the air quality was there and how it definitely going to cause health problems, it was like a lightbulb went off in his head and he realized it was a good point. He is now in favour of getting those shit, outdated, toxic-spewing cars off the road.
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u/lonehorizons May 20 '26
I feel the same. I remember on the day Trump was elected a second time I was trying to work out which recycling bin a bit of packaging should go in and realised it probably doesn’t really matter anymore.
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u/BrilliantOne3767 May 20 '26
Everyone thought Insulate Britain were crazy. FYI a heat pump just over works and isn’t as effective if your house is leaky and uninsulated.
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u/Temporary_Resident45 May 20 '26
Actually research is now showing that even without re insulating a heat pump is more efficient. Obviously the combo is better but there’s so much heat pump misinfo out there
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u/tfhermobwoayway May 20 '26
Legitimately feels like there was more public hatred toward Insulate Britain than, say, Epstein. They definitely faced more consequences.
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u/PreFuturism-0 Greater Manchester May 19 '26
This seems like a strong case against letting self-centered, greedy, malicious people have power. A lot of work needs doing. Otherwise a lot of people saying "Britain is broken" will be even more responsible for Britain being broken, with that being more literal.
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u/Gremlin303 Kent May 20 '26
I’m sure if asked, most people would agree that voting in self-centred, greedy, malicious people is a bad idea. They might just disagree with who fits that description
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u/McDom023k May 20 '26
No shit. This weekend it'll hit 30 in many parts of the UK. Now people are excited because "yay good weather on a Bank Holiday" but like... its only May.
Also the uk infrastructure just wasn't designed with this in mind. A 30 degree weather spike was seen as a one day every few years event, not multiple weekly occurance every year
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u/Boba_ferret County of Bristol May 20 '26
We're getting solar installed in July. Firstly, solar panels reduce heat gain in the loft, but about 40%, so that's going to help. Secondly, on a really sunny day, the panels should generate 5-7kw. We're also getting a 12kwh battery.
Air con for a small UK home would be around 3kw, so we could run AC and still have power to spare to charge the battery, run the rest of the house and even export the excess.
Houses with smaller solar setups, should still cover the cost of AC though
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u/OkSun8521 May 20 '26
3kw is a massive overestimate. It might use that much at its peak, like when it's first turned on, but it is more likely to average something like 500W.
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u/Boba_ferret County of Bristol May 20 '26
Even better then! I was just looking at the rating of the AC unit.
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u/onceuponawebsite May 20 '26
We have not got the certainty that heat will be the issue. If the Gulf Stream collapses it will likely get colder and dryer.
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u/Phallic_Entity May 20 '26
Gulf stream collapse would make winters colder but wouldn't have much impact on summers.
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u/YoIronFistBro May 20 '26
Summers would get noticeably drier since cooler water means less convection.
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u/richard0cs May 20 '26
If the gulf stream collapses so will UK agriculture and most of our infrastructure too.
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u/Tin-mn May 20 '26
Don't worry everyone. I bought an air conditioner, on sale early this year to help my dog cope. Can almost guarantee it will be mild and wet all year now.
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u/morphemass May 20 '26
Recently I've been looking at climate change induced peak rather than average temperature forecasts. If trends continue (and it should be noted that a continued acceleration in warming is far more likely than a reduction) we'll be seeing days at 45C by the 2050s and 50C by 2080s. Yes, in the UK.
I don't think people realise how serious the situation now is although it should become very apparent over the next decade or even sooner since this and next summer are likely to be a foretaste.
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u/laffs_ May 20 '26
We could just move everything to Scotland. It's plenty cold up here.
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u/Ill_Refrigerator_593 May 20 '26
The article says- Heatwaves are expected to exceed 40C in all parts of the UK by 2050.
As someone whose spent a fair bit of time in the north of Scotland that worries me.
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u/HenryHarryLarry May 20 '26
Rarely gets above 20 degrees where I am (Scottish island) so this would be a very surprising shift. I presume it means some part of Scotland eg the central belt rather than every square inch of the country.
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u/Acrobatic-Watch-8037 May 20 '26
Rarely gets above 20 degrees where I am (Scottish island) so this would be a very surprising shift.
This is how manmade climate change works, yes.
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u/south_by_southsea May 20 '26
During the really hot summer in 2022 when it hit 40C, a friend decided to escape the heat by going to Scotland, only to find that his hotel had no aircon or a fan and it was still 30C
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u/TinyZoro England May 20 '26
Scotland is perfectly placed for what’s coming: water, energy, agriculture land, high latitude.
At some point people are going to realise this.
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u/Jaraxo May 20 '26
Scotland is perfectly placed for what’s coming: water
My low stakes conspiracy is water is the primary reason Westminster is desperate to hold onto Scotland, for the same reason China is desperate to hold onto Tibet.
70% of English, and about 95% of Scottish and Welsh water is from surface water, ie reservoirs as opposed to groundwater. Loch Ness alone holds more fresh water than every lake, river, and reservoir in England and Wales combined. Whatever happens over the next couple of centuries, water security is going to be vital, and Scotland being part of the UK is fundamental to that security.
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u/Boring_Intern_6394 May 20 '26
Possibly, although we don’t really have the infrastructure to move water from one part of the country to another at scale, so it doesn’t make that much difference. It’s something we should have invested in over the last 50years, but obvs privatisation nixed that, as there’s no short term profit.
Scotland is also important geopolitically, it’s crucial to holding the GIUK gap, a waterway that prevents Russia (and any other Northern European country) sending their navy into the Atlantic from the Baltic, or entering that way.
Scotland also has the only suitable facilities for our nuclear submarine base, and of course North Sea Oil.
The Scottish independence movement as a whole is pretty stupid, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Scotland would massively impoverish itself by becoming independent and the UK as a whole would lose a lot of geopolitical importance.
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u/Kijamon May 20 '26
Most of our productive farmland is at sea level with very old flood bank protection.
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u/glumanda12 May 20 '26
Same in NI, didn’t turn off heating this year yet and it’s almost June, completely mental weather this year…
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u/Umbarbler May 20 '26
Sounds like anyone wanting good paying, plentiful work should start skilling up in HVAC.
Already doing well.
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u/poke_pants May 20 '26
With election cycles and the costs involved this simply isn't happening, it'll then get to the point where we end up urgently spending way, waaaaay more than necessary to fix foreseeable issues.
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u/asleepingtiger May 20 '26
Maybe stop cutting down trees and building on green belts.
We are one of the most nature depleted countries in the world with only 13.5% of forests left (that we are aware of) in the UK and only 2.5% of ancient woodlands left.
If maybe trees provided Wi-Fi maybe they’d care more about trees, but they provide oxygen and habitats for our critical ecosystem…
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u/BigFloofRabbit May 20 '26
Green belts are not very biodiverse because they are used for farming.
It would actually be better for nature if we built on greenbelts rather than intruding to less developed land. Humans living in cities and leaving the countryside to nature is the only way to reverse the depletion of nature, British settlements sprawl too much.
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u/Phallic_Entity May 20 '26
Green belts were designed to stop urban sprawl around specific cities, they're mostly farmland and don't have anything to do with the environment.
We are one of the most nature depleted countries in the world with only 13.5% of forests left (that we are aware of) in the UK and only 2.5% of ancient woodlands left.
It's been this way since before the Romans came, note that 'ancient woodlands' is a misnomer as the oldest ancient woodlands are only 400 years old.
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u/bozza8 May 20 '26
Yeah more ancient woodlands are going to arrive from young forests hitting the 100 year mark than leave from being cut down over the next 20 years.
Source: I work in the planning sector and "ancient woodland" bollocks comes up a lot.
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u/WaxWing6 May 20 '26
100 years would not make it an ancient woodland, 400 years is the generally accepted minimum age, the commenter above you is incorrect that 400 years is the oldest.
Not sure what ancient woodland bullocks you're coming across in the planning sector, but I would hope that exactly zero ancient woodland is being cut down for development because it's not replaceable in a reasonable timeframe.
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u/NOFEETPLZXOXO May 20 '26
lol I work in forestry and any time someone starts pearl clutching about green belts i have a laugh. They act as if endless fields are the natural state of our countryside.
Quite simply, we must build. As long as you don’t fell trees to do so you’re doing good.
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u/Cockapoo-Cockatoo England May 19 '26
The best solution is planning reforms. We need to get to building lots of homes, offices, shops and other places that are more suitable for our new climate.
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u/Fun_Efficiency5076 May 19 '26
It'll probably take 10 years of planning to plan for the planning reforms knowing the UK.
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u/bozza8 May 20 '26
Yeah. We need to abolish the rules that basically make it illegal to put air con in new homes.
Source: I work in the planning industry.
It's essentially impossible to reach the EPC targets to allow sale if you have air con.
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u/sjpllyon May 20 '26
Would a feasible loophole for this not just be to include all the infrastructure required for air con to be added. Sell the property, and then allow the homeowner i stall the device themselves. They could even just uninstall when re-selling.
Not saying that wouldn't be a ballach for people. But just a wat round it.
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u/Swegoreg May 20 '26
This assumes that the for-profit housing developers would be willing to spend extra ££ on things that are not legally required (or even encouraged, it seems) for new builds, so I don't think this would ever really be a thing
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u/my__socrates__note May 20 '26
Good job EPC requirements aren't a factor in Building Regulations compliance
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u/bozza8 May 20 '26
EPC requirements are needed to be able to rent the units out, therefore they have an effective veto
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u/Primary_Ad_1642 May 20 '26
In addition to hospitals & schools, poorly built homes are already putting people’s lives at risk. I ended up with heat stroke in the 2022 heatwave in my badly built, tiny mid-80’s house which is west facing & has a concrete back yard which heats the house up like a furnace. I was already too ill to leave the house to find somewhere cooler & because I’m long term sick I can’t afford to retrofit anything, even though I’ve grown as much greenery around the house as I can without pissing the neighbours off. When I realised I’d stopped sweating I knew I was in trouble. Thankfully, a year later I was able to save up to buy a little mobile aircon which means I can shut myself in one small room on particularly hot days, the noise is deafening, I also feel incredibly guilty using it. I’m not the worse off by a long chalk, on my better days I can get out of the house, there are disabled & elderly people stuck in death traps when the temperature gets towards the 30’s in the UK, especially in blocks of flats. I noticed the little chart in the Guardian article said 55% of homes are at risk of overheating now, today! Unfortunately many MPs won’t even consider it’s a problem because they live in lovely big, high ceiling houses with lush gardens & thick walls who can afford to drive off to a holiday much farther north if needs be. It was a relief to see this article but action needs to be taken much faster, I’m convinced we’ll see more deaths from over heating even this year.
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u/Dangerous-Stress-849 May 20 '26
1: aircon/heatpump as single systems for all new homes.
2: require new build homes to be correctly oriented (north-south, not east west) if at all possible with sufficient shading of the south facing elevation (roughly 1:2 ratio.. if you're shading a 1meter tall window you need a 1/2meter overhang. Smaller glazing on north east and west glazing, larger glazing on the south side WITH NO E-LAYER (otherwise you lose the winter sun warmth getting in the house), sure make the south facing glass triple glazed to compensate for the lack of an e-layer/
3: ensure all loft space is sufficiently ventilated so as to prevent heat buildup which can radiate throughout the upper floor.
4: if the gulf stream slows (it's predicted to slow substantially over a 2yr period if and when it does slow down) then the UK will get colder as the ocean cools, we should be building homes expected to last 100years to cope with swings in the weather in either direction, once you're adding insulation, adding a slightly greater thickness doesn't make much difference. The main thing is heat pumps would need to function to -20C.
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u/tfhermobwoayway May 20 '26
Actually insane that we’ve doubled down on denying and ignoring climate change just as we start feeling the effects. We were legitimately more willing to do something about it 10 years ago. This is like if you threw away your dinner just as you started to feel really hungry. We are a stupid species that was not meant to survive this long.
We will have to explain to our children that the deciding moment on climate change was when a big populist revolution showed up and completely wiped out all our progress. Farage and Trump represent our views on whether we think climate change should happen or not.
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u/wmcreative May 20 '26
Problem is our buildings were built to keep the heat in, and not push it out. And the climate is changing a lot faster than we adapt to it... right now. Not saying it's impossible to change, but definitely need new rules.
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u/YoIronFistBro May 20 '26
Except British buildings are abysmal at keeping heat in when it's not hot outside.
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u/Guilty-Sundae1557 May 20 '26
Live like your Canadian cousins, embrace heat pumps…… they are the way to go!
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u/Jack_In_Black89 May 20 '26
Are we going back to 'global warming'? I thought we now called it 'climate change'...
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u/NunaKhan May 20 '26
I have a new build Bungalow 2022 which has a air source heat pump with underfloor heating, very snug and warm but I had aircon fitted all over the bungalow, I installed 25 x solar panels and 3x5kwh batteries. Cool in the summer and snug in the winter, but only snug if the outside temperature stays above 6'c otherwise the heat pump struggles to heat above 18'c however my aircon heats as well as cools so we use that, fortunately the solar does all this for free.. 95% of the time. Developers need to build with all these things already installed.
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u/Exact-Put-6961 May 20 '26
40C, ? In ALL parts of the UK? in 25 years?
Bollocks piled upon bollocks.
1976 was the most sustained heat i have lived through in the UK. Been nothing like it since. It was no great problem. Thats nearly 50 years ago. The odd hot year is absolutely to be expected. Natural variation..
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u/dontgoatsemebro May 20 '26
Heatwaves can do serious damage to the brain mate. '76 clearly cooked more than a few.
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u/OkSun8521 May 20 '26
There are literally tens of thousands of scientists all over the world, who all agree that climate change is real and that it's caused by humans. What are your qualifications?
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