Climate change in the United Kingdom

Averaged over the whole country, the last ten years (2016–2025) were 1.4 °C warmer than 1951–1980 according to Copernicus ERA5 — faster than the global average of 1.1 °C over the same period. Land areas warm faster than the oceans, so most countries warm faster than the global figure.

Climate models project the United Kingdom to be about 1.0 °C warmer in 2040–2059 than in 1995–2014 under an intermediate scenario (SSP2-4.5; model range 0.2–1.7 °C), and 1.3 °C under very high emissions (SSP5-8.5).

The United Kingdom emitted 313 million tonnes of CO₂ from fossil fuels and industry in 2024, 0.8% of the global total, or 4.5 tonnes per person — 96% of the world average. Historically it has emitted 4.3% of all CO₂ since 1750.