"Britain has entered a new climate reality" — Adrian Ramsay MP demands Government action after leading Westminster Hall debate on extreme heat
Adrian Ramsay MP, Green Party MP for Waveney Valley, today led a Westminster Hall debate on the UK's preparedness for extreme heat, warning MPs that "Britain has entered a new climate reality" and demanding the Government urgently deliver a national Heat Resilience Strategy, led from the Cabinet Office with clear ministerial accountability, ensuring that decisions on housing, infrastructure, health, energy and land use are all designed for the climate we now face. Heat-health warnings, public information and targeted support for vulnerable people should become routine before heatwaves strike.
In the debate, Adrian said recent heatwaves had exposed dangerous gaps in the country's readiness for a hotter climate, citing hospitals declaring critical incidents, record ambulance demand, school closures and major wildfires.
Among the most alarming failures raised in the debate was the breakdown of MRI scanners at the Norfolk and Norwich hospital, which serves part of Adrian’s Waveney Valley constituency, after their cooling systems failed during the June heatwave. Ramsay said this showed the NHS estate was "not designed to operate safely during prolonged periods of temperatures approaching 40°C."
Adrian pointed to analysis showing around 2,700 heat-related deaths occurred during the May and June heatwaves in England and Wales alone, and warned the June 2026 heatwave is estimated to have cost the UK economy at least £2.36 billion in lost productivity, a figure that could rise to £25 billion a year by 2030 without action.
Adrian Ramsay MP said:
"Britain has entered a new climate reality, and our public services are not ready for it. These were not isolated weather events, they were a real-world test of our preparedness for a hotter climate, exposing vulnerabilities across our health service, critical infrastructure, emergency response and natural environment.
"Hospitals have declared critical incidents and postponed operations. The London Ambulance Service recorded its busiest week on record. At the Norfolk and Norwich hospital in my constituency, MRI scanners stopped working when their cooling systems failed.
“The impacts of extreme heat don't fall evenly. It's the elderly, pregnant women and those with chronic illnesses who feel this most, and it's not just a public health issue, it threatens the resilience of the whole health and care system.
"This isn't just about hotter summers either. It's about whether our prisons, care homes, schools, transport and food supply can withstand the climate we're already living in. Water security is one of Britain's greatest long-term resilience challenges, fundamental to public health, food production, economic resilience and national security. Climate change is no longer just affecting where our food is grown, it is affecting what families can afford.
"The Government's own experts have told them what's needed, an £11 billion a year investment in resilience, led properly from the Cabinet Office. Instead, we get delay after delay.
"Adaptation is not a cost, it's an investment. Every year the Government fails to act, the bill for recovery gets bigger and the human cost gets higher. Britain needs a Heat Resilience Strategy now, not after the next heatwave kills more people."
ENDS
