The UK's recent heatwave is another reminder that our climate is changing

The recent heatwave that swept across the UK from late June into July brought record temperatures to many parts of the country. While periods of hot weather are not unusual, climate change is making these events more frequent, more intense and longer lasting.

It can feel as though each year brings another temperature record. More importantly, these events remind us that climate change is no longer a future challenge - we are already experiencing its impacts. As the Met Office projects more frequent and intense heatwaves alongside periods of heavy rainfall (1), the question becomes: how do we make our landscapes more resilient?

Heatwaves don't just mean hotter days, they place increasing pressure on the UK's water systems, increase the risk of wildfires, and strain infrastructure (2) that wasn't designed to cope with prolonged periods of extreme heat. Recent wildfires across the UK (3), including in the Cairngorms (4), Arthur's Seat (5) and North Wales (6), demonstrate how hotter, drier conditions are already affecting our landscapes and the communities that depend on them. The repeated occurrence of wildfires in some areas, including multiple incidents at Arthur’s Seat over the past year, highlights the growing pressure placed on landscapes during periods of extreme heat and drought. The rise in global temperatures is driven by human-induced climate change, making it our collective responsibility to reduce emissions while building resilience to the impacts we can no longer avoid (7).

The impacts reach far beyond rising temperatures

Extreme weather events have significant human impact and also place increasing pressure on the UK's natural environment.

Recent articles highlight how climate change is already threatening the resilience of our natural environment (8). Across the UK's landscapes, the impacts are becoming increasingly visible, from urban trees experiencing greater heat stress to woodlands facing increased risks from drought, wildfire and extreme rainfall. These impacts do not occur in isolation; changes in one part of an ecosystem can create wider consequences for the plants, animals and communities that depend on these landscapes.

Similarly, recent Government guidance on preparing woodlands for extreme weather reflects the reality that our weather patterns are becoming more volatile (9). Land managers are increasingly having to plan for prolonged dry periods and increased risk of wildfire, alongside more frequent and intense rainfall events.

These examples demonstrate that adapting to climate change is no longer optional - it is becoming an essential part of managing our natural environment.

Building resilience through nature-based solutions

One of the recurring themes at this year's London Climate Action Week was the growing role of nature-based solutions in helping communities and landscapes adapt to climate change.

Sam attended the Catchment-Scale Nature-Based Solutions for Resilient Economic Growth event, hosted by Pegasys, where discussions centred on how restoring natural systems can help build long-term resilience while delivering economic and environmental benefits.

Restoring healthy ecosystems can help regulate water, improve biodiversity, reduce flood risk and support climate mitigation simultaneously.

A key theme throughout the discussions was that building landscape resilience cannot be achieved by a single organisation. Catchment-scale nature-based solutions rely on collaboration between landowners, water companies, regulators, investors and local communities, all of whom have a shared interest in healthy, functioning ecosystems.

Against the backdrop of the UK's recent heatwave, water (and water stress - both too little or too much all at once) was a recurring theme. Healthy water systems underpin everything from food production and biodiversity to energy generation and climate resilience (10). With more than half of global GDP moderately or highly dependent on nature, investing in healthy ecosystems is no longer simply an environmental issue - it's an economic one too (11).

Why peatland restoration matters

Healthy peatlands play an important role in regulating water. They absorb rainfall, slow the movement of water through catchments and help retain moisture within the landscape during dry periods. As hotter, drier summers become more common, these hydrological benefits become increasingly valuable.

Beyond their role in managing water, maintaining peatlands in a healthy, restored state is essential for building resilience to wildfire. Healthy peatlands are naturally wet ecosystems, with high water tables that help them retain moisture during periods of extreme heat and drought. In contrast, degraded peatlands can dry out and become more vulnerable to fire, with dry peat acting as a fuel source that allows fires to spread more easily and burn for longer. These fires can damage habitats, threaten wildlife and release carbon stored within peat soils. Peatland fires are also particularly dangerous, as they can burn below the surface. They can smoulder underground for weeks and appear extinguished when, in fact, they are still burning. Wet peat is less likely to smoulder and limits how deeply a fire can burn, which makes fires less severe. Degraded peatlands are also likely to have species such as purple moor grass, dense heather, bracken, and dry shrubs, which act as a continuous layer of dry fuel in summer, providing more fuel for fires. Rewetting changes the species composition to wetter mosses and bog plants, lowering the likelihood of igniting the peat. By restoring peatlands, we can help rebuild landscapes that are better equipped to withstand the increasing pressures of a changing climate.

Healthy peat is dark brown to almost black, with a spongy texture formed from partially decomposed organic matter that is capable of retaining remarkable volumes of water. Functioning peatlands remain waterlogged because of their naturally high water table and support peat-forming vegetation such as sphagnum mosses, creating habitat for a rich diversity of wildlife.

This is one of the reasons peatland restoration is so powerful, it delivers multiple benefits across climate mitigation, climate adaptation, water quality, biodiversity, soil health and landscape resilience. Yet many of these vital ecosystems are no longer functioning as they should.

Decades of intensive land management, including drainage, arable farming, atmospheric pollution, peat extraction, muirburn, and overgrazing, have damaged around 80% of the UK’s peatlands (12). These degraded peatlands are drying out and oxidising, releasing vast amounts of greenhouse gases that had been stored for hundreds or even thousands of years. As peat loses its natural moisture, it also becomes more vulnerable to extreme weather impacts, including wildfire.

In 2017, degraded peatlands in the UK were estimated to emit 23 million tonnes of CO₂e annually (13), about 1 in every 20 tonnes of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) that year (14).

Protecting remaining peatlands and restoring their healthy function is essential for the UK to meet its climate targets. For example, the carbon stored in Scottish peatland soils alone is equivalent to 140 years’ worth of Scotland’s total annual GHG emissions (15).

Functioning peatland ecosystems are some of the most carbon-rich terrestrial ecosystems on earth, storing up to 30 times more carbon per hectare than a healthy tropical rainforest (16). Globally, peatlands lock up an estimated 550 billion tonnes of CO₂e (17). To put this figure into context, the entirety of global CO2 emissions in 2019 was 36.44 billion metric tonnes (18).

The Office for National Statistics estimates that fully restoring the UK’s degraded peatlands could cost £8–22 billion over the next century, but would save £109 billion in avoided carbon emissions alone (12). And the benefits go beyond carbon: healthy peatlands also improve water quality, reduce flood risk, and support biodiversity.

Taking action

The reality of climate change can sometimes feel overwhelming. For many people, the challenge isn't understanding that action is needed, it's knowing where to start.

The encouraging news is that meaningful action is already happening. From large-scale peatland restoration and woodland creation projects to businesses investing in high-quality nature-based carbon projects, organisations across the UK are helping build more resilient landscapes. SMEs, individuals, and households also have an important role to play, whether by supporting restoration projects or making small everyday choices that benefit nature - with collective action amplifying positive impact (19).

As this summer's heatwave has shown, building resilience can no longer wait. By investing in nature, we can help create landscapes that are better equipped to cope with the changing climate while delivering lasting benefits for people, wildlife and future generations.

Finally, everyone can help by avoiding peat-containing products wherever possible. Peat-free compost alternatives are readily available and work just as well for growing your favourite vegetables!

If you’re an individual or business, you can support peatland restoration across the UK by providing much-needed funding. Restoration is often too expensive to proceed without private investment, yet it’s a highly effective way to reduce carbon emissions. Healthy peatlands store large amounts of carbon, while degraded peatlands release it. If you’re interested in purchasing under 300 tCO₂e from UK peatlands, visit our Carbon Club. For larger purchases or to support entire projects, please get in touch.

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Sources

1. Effects of climate change, Met Office
2. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service update - Cairngorm National Park fire, The Highland Council
3. Major incident declared in Wales as firefighters tackle wildfires across UK, BBC
4. Fire crews 'surround' large-scale Cairngorms wildfire, BBC
5. Fire crews to remain at Arthur's Seat for days after blaze, BBC
6. Wildfires updates as battle to contain multiple blazes continues across North Wales, North Wales Live
7. More than 2,700 excess deaths estimated in England and Wales during May and June heatwaves, Met Office
8. London could lose most of its trees by 2090 due to climate change, The Standard
9. How to respond to and prepare woodlands for extreme weather, Gov.uk
10. Water – at the center of the climate crisis, United Nations
11. Managing nature risks: From understanding to action, PWC
12. UK natural capital: peatlands, Office of National Statistics
13. Implementation of an Emissions Inventory for UK Peatlands, Department of Energy and Climate Change
14. UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Department for Business, Energy & Industry Strategy
15. Peatland and Carbon, Peatland ACTION
16. Peatland factsheet, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
17. Peatland, IUCN
18. Annual carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions worldwide from 1940 to 2025, Statista
19. The Carbon Club

This article was originally published on Forest Carbon in July 2026.