Find out what our UK climate Witnesses have observed.


While the impact of climate change on the UK and our wildlife may be less obvious that the impact on the arctic and the Himalayas, it is still profound.
Changing sea temperatures have resulted a dramatic reduction in the number of sand eels in some areas, which has been catastrophic for several species of sea-bird that rely on them for food including the much-loved puffin.

Warmer winters also mean tat invasive species of plant and animal from warmer climates are thriving here rather than being killed off by winter frosts. One very visual indicator of this may be the green parrots that now inhabit large swathes of southern England. While climate change is not the sole reason for their abundance, it is likely that it is helping them to thrive.

Several mammal species that would normally hibernate throughout the winter, like certain bats and hedgehogs, are now emerging earlier because of the warmer winter temperatures - this can be problematic as the more abundant spring food stores they rely on are not yet available for them.
Scotland's Capercaillie - one of Britain's most spectacular birds - is a cold weather species, and a warming climate threatens its survival in the UK too.


UKCIP says the 1990s was the warmest decade in central England since records began in the 1660s and this warming of climate over land has been accompanied by warming of UK coastal waters.

The growing season for plants in central England has lengthened by about one month since 1900.

In the Future:

• The UK climate will become warmer. The temperature of coastal waters will also increase, although not as rapidly as over land.
• High summer temperatures will become more frequent, whilst very cold winters will become increasingly rare.

UKCIP believes that after adjusting for natural land movements, the average sea level around the UK is now about 10cm higher than it was in 1900.

In the Future:

• Relative sea level will continue to rise around most of the UK's shoreline.
• Extreme sea levels will be experienced more frequently

UKCIP reports that heatwaves have become more frequent in summer, while there are now fewer frosts and winter cold spells.

Winters over the last 200 years have become much wetter relative to summers throughout the UK.

A larger proportion of winter precipitation (rain and snow) now falls on heavy rainfall days than was the case 50 years ago.

In the future:

• Winters will become wetter and summers may become drier throughout the UK
• Snowfall amounts will decrease throughout the UK.
• Heavy winter precipitation will become more frequent

Climate change is already affecting people and their health.

Some serious health impacts include an estimated 20,000 more deaths from colds each year by 2050 and over 2000 deaths each summer from higher temperatures.

An increase in coastal flooding and gales are predicted to cause far more fatalities.

Even a higher incidence of food poisoning from a rise in temperatures is predicted.

Malaria, infectious diseases, UV exposure and pollution

Other serious concerns for people's health from climate change include:

• Malaria and other vector-borne diseases (tick-borne encephalitis)
• Ultraviolet light exposure (UV) leading to a higher incidence of skin cancer
• Premature deaths could result from a rise in background levels of ozone, linked to air pollution. Ozone is known to worsen chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and prevent the body from fighting respiratory infections

International and UK Strategies for Health
The UK Department of Health, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and the World Health Organization have published reports about the policy challenges for health authorities around the UK, relating to an increase in temperatures from climate change. The DOH has devised campaigns to increase public awareness about climate change and health affects, such as through heat-wave education campaigns.