Britain had one of warmest and wettest years on record

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/nov/04/britain-warmest-wettest-met-office-records

Nov. 4, 2014

The UK is on course to experience the warmest and one of the wettest years since records began more than a century ago, feeding fears that future droughts and flash floods could cost lives.

Figures from the Met Office show January to October has been the warmest since records began in 1910, and also the second-wettest. Unless November and December are extremely cold, 2014 will be the hottest year on record.

Experts say this the result of climate change, which they warn could place a burden on the NHS as Britons struggling to cope with future heatwaves end up in hospital.

Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics, said the elderly and those with health problems are particularly at risk and could end up dying in the heat.

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Ward said: “A large part of the population is unaware that this risk is increasing, and that is a problem because people are not then able to take the necessary precautions.

“One example is that people are not adapting their homes, particularly in cities, to make them cooler. For vulnerable people, such as the elderly, that might be a matter of life and death.

“If you have a heatwave and people are at home and unable to keep their homes cool, that is potentially life-threatening – particularly for the elderly or people with respiratory problems.”

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Unless drastic action is taken, Britain could see a repeat of the 2007 floods, which swamped large swaths of western England, the north and Northern Ireland, he warned.

There were 13 deaths and thousands had to be evacuated from their homes as agencies launched the largest rescue operation in peacetime Britain.

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Ward said 2014 was “very clearly part of a pattern”, pointing out that the seven warmest years on record have happened since 2000.

He added: “This reflects the increase in the average temperature of the earth, it is clearly indicative of global warming.”