The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) has said that it believes the UK is not yet adequately prepared to tackle the growing impact of climate change.
Publishing a new set of recommendations on the strategies the UK needs to adopt to be prepared to withstand current and future impacts of climate change, the NFCC has called on the UK and devolved governments to take urgent action to help protect communities, infrastructure and the economy as extreme weather events look set to increase.
UK fire and rescue services current role
UK fire and rescue services already play a crucial role in responding to climate change-related emergencies but responding to these events requires significant fire and rescue service resource, often over prolonged periods of time.
This results in a challenge in being able to maintain their ‘business as usual’ service whilst managing the significant resource and staffing pressures that the response to such incidents creates.
Limited resources and a lack of access to longer-term forecasting mechanisms is posing challenges for the sector to prepare adequately for the expected challenges ahead.
Longer term planning and investment is needed to ensure fire and rescue services, who are often at the frontline of responding to the impacts of climate change, including wildfires, storms, high temperatures and heatwaves, low temperatures and snow, flooding and drought, are prepared.
Met Office report
Met Office data shows that by 2070, winters are projected to be up to 4.5°C warmer and 30% wetter than they were in 1990, while summers may be up to 6°C warmer and 60% drier.
Weather extremes are expected to become more likely, with regions in the south of England projected to experience temperatures reaching 40°C and increased rainfall by up to 25%.
Data set out in NFCC’s research and recommendations on extreme weather events, published in August 2024, shows that:
- The intense heatwave the UK experienced over the summer in 2022 resulted in a total of 983 wildfires being recorded in England and Wales. This was an increase from 247 wildfires in 2021 and 146 wildfires in 2020, an increase of 315% and 573% respectively.
- From 2020/21 to 2021/22, the number of flooding incidents attended by fire and rescue services in England rose by 7% and another 12% from 2021/22 to 2022/23.
Mark Hardingham, National Fire Chiefs Council statement
National Fire Chiefs Council Chair, Mark Hardingham said: “Watching the devastation caused by the wildfires in Los Angeles and the number of recent flooding incidents we have seen in the UK, it is impossible not to be concerned about the very real and immediate threat climate change poses to our planet and what that will mean for our communities in the future.
“Fire and rescue services are on the frontline of responding to extreme weather events and we see firefighters, Control officers and other emergency service partners repeatedly going above and beyond to protect their communities.
But we are seeing the risks around extreme weather increasing and, without adequate investment and further action from government, our capacity to keep communities safe and protect infrastructure is at risk”.
Ben Brook, Chief Fire Officer for Warwickshire and NFCC Lead on Environment and Climate Change statement
Chief Fire Officer for Warwickshire and NFCC Lead on Environment and Climate Change said: “Fire and rescue services form part of local resilience forums and work collaboratively with partners to plan for and respond to extreme weather events.
“However, we are concerned that fire and rescue services and local resilience forums do not have access to accurate data analysis mechanisms and the expertise to use this for predictive modelling which would allow for longer-term forecasting and risk management planning. We have also found that local resilience forums are under-resourced and lack clarity when it comes to their climate change resilience role”.