What might climate change look like in my area?

Feb 10

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Charities and funders exploring where social, environmental, and equity issues bump into each other are likely, at some point, to consider what might happen in different areas of the UK. Wading through the volume of information to find what’s relevant can be a challenge. This 'blog' (very much a work in progress) provides links to some great resources on climate impacts across the UK that will be updated regularly as new information is located or published. Get in touch, if you have suggestions to add.

The ClimateJust Map Tool

The ClimateJust Map Tool is designed to assist public service providers addressing climate justice issues. Its aim is to provide resources and insights that assessment of social vulnerability and climate disadvantage. It covers floods and heat, from a climate justice perspective. For example flood data can be viewed by neighbourhood vulnerability index, susceptibility due to age or health, inability to prepare due to prepare, respond, or recover due to issues including income level or access to support. It is a wonderfully rich resource. The data sets do not always cover all four nations, however you can drill down by local authority area. More information can be found here.

*Example: flood susceptibility by Disability / people in ill-health*

The National Trust Hazards Maps

The National Trust hazard map illustrates the threats climate change poses by comparing 2020 data with 2060 projections. The maps cover all four nations and issues including overheating, storm damage, and landslide risks. It is possible to search by postcode for results against hexagonal area blocks More information can be found here and here. The primary audience is historical sites, however the information has wider applicability.

*Example: climate change hazard map showing overheating and humidity 2020-2060*

Friends of the Earth cooling effect of urban trees and parks

Friends of the Earth Maps of London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Newcastle upon Tyne, showing the cooling offset of trees and green spaces. Whilst only covering selected cities, they are both illustrative and fascinating.

*Example: Birmingham cooling by urban trees and green spaces*

mySociety and Climate Emergency UK Council Score Cards

The Council Climate Action Score Cards by mySociety and Climate Emergency UK, provide summaries of local authority action on climate change adaptation. Data is available for all four nations and can be searched by council type. Advanced filers allow for filtering by urbanisation, index of multiple deprivation, region and more. You can compare to the average scores of similar types of council. New data will be available for 2025, you can read more here. A useful related blog can be found here.

*Example: West Devon Borough Council's climate scorecard*

Climate Coalition Local Intelligence Hub

The Climate Coalition and its 200 member organisations (including Friends of the Earth, WWF, and The Wildlife Trusts) use the Local Intelligence Hub to plan data-driven community engagement strategies, and feed informed conversations between constituents and their MPs. The Hub pulls together public and private datasets on MP activity, public opinion on climate and nature issues, local environmental and demographic factors, and data on the climate and nature movement’s presence and supporter base across the UK. All four nations are covered, although the geographical range of different data sets varies.

*Example: estimated households in fuel poverty*

Place-based climate action network (PCAN) Just Transition Jobs Tracker

PCAN’s Just Transition Jobs Tracker provides data for jobs based in a large number of UK geographies (including local authority, parliamentary constituency, local enterprise partnership and combined authority areas). Across the UK, PCAN’s research has found that one in five workers, and 6.3 million jobs in total, will be affected by the transition to a net-zero carbon economy, with around 3 million workers requiring upskilling and around 3 million in high demand. More information here.

*Example: Parliamentary constituencies with the largest proportion of new/in demand jobs and jobs requiring upskilling*

Climate Resilience Programme Climate Risk Indicator Explorer

The Climate Resilience Programme’s Climate Risk Indicators, developed by Reading University, provides local authority level and devolved nation level data on a range of climate indicators relating to temperature and rainfall.

*Example: Average temperature change 2071-2100*

Government flood risk data

Government data is available for long term flood risks in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Searchable by postcode.

*Example: River and Sea flooding risk City of London*

BBC and Met Office’s ‘What will Climate Change look like near me?’

BBC and Met Office’s ‘What will Climate Change look like near me?’ is searchable by postcode. All four nations are covered. Summary data is excellent and easy to understand. Further Met Office climate maps and data are available here. It uses the much more technical UK Climate Projections (UKCP) data available here.

London Climate Risk Maps

City Hall’s London Climate Risk Maps are a treasure trove of information that should be available nationwide. Flood, heat and overall climate change risk data can be compared to a wide range of filters including deprivation, tree cover, air pollution, housing, ethnicity and more. Data is available by borough.

*Example: London overall climate risk compared to income deprivation*

UKCIP Climate Change Map

The UKCIP (based in the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford) map shows the most significant climate impacts as identified by the government’s Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA). It is a static map.

*Example: summary of most significant climate risks per region*

Scottish Environment Protection (SEPA) flood maps

The SEPA flood maps give detailed protections for Scottish flood risks searchable by postcode or town/city.

How might energy efficiency upgrades change your bills?

For England and Wales, the FT’s postcode searchable energy efficiency database shows how average energy bills for a specific type of property in a chosen area might change with energy efficiency upgrades. These can be compared to a national average.

Example: Potential energy efficiency savings per household

IQAir Air Quality monitoring

IQAir’s air quality monitoring is global, including the four nations of the UK, and provides real-time air quality monitoring.

UK Government: households off the gas-grid and prices for alternative fuels

UK Government’s report on households off the gas-grid and prices for alternative fuels identifies areas on and off the gas-grid in England and Wales.

*Example: Oil dependent central heating in 2021*

National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory

The NAEI maps are an interactive application to explore 2020 emissions data across the UK. Searches are possible by pollutant and sector, and can be mapped against local authorities and devolved administrations.

Climate Central’s climate risk maps

Climate Central’s climate risk maps is a global interactive map, covering all four nations of the UK, that can be filtered by year, water level, temperature, warming choices and more. This includes projections of what different global warming scenarios (i.e. degrees above pre-industrial levels) could mean for different geographies.