El Niño: Impact

Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston Excerpts

Tuesday 19th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My noble friend is absolutely right: 2022 was the UK’s hottest year on record and saw over 20,000 hectares of land in England burned, the destruction of over 70 properties across the UK and at least 14 fire and rescue services declaring major incidents in their areas, as well as 2,985 excess deaths. We have to learn from each event as it happens and make sure that the lessons learned are reflected in our resilience plans going forward, which is why we now have a severe weather resilience network, which is led by COBRA but includes MHCLG and the Department of Health as key aspects of it. We need to make sure that the most vulnerable are protected and that those who need resources, whether at a local or national level, have what they need to keep us all safe.

[Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston (CB)]

My Lords, some local authorities have in the past identified places such as churches, which may provide cool shelter during very high temperature periods. Are the Government doing any work with local authorities to make information available for those kinds of preventative action as and when it might be needed?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right. We saw during Covid and see during every crisis moment that communities come together, and the church and faith communities tend to be at the heart of a response. Details about how communities can respond are available on gov.uk/prepare, which outlines not just what is available and what individuals can do but what communities can do to prepare for any extreme event, whether related to a pandemic or to severe weather. We thank everyone who steps up at times of national emergency, especially those within our faith communities who take local leadership roles.