Articles by Jessica Shankleman

Europe Braces for Heat Following Greek Fires and Swiss Floods

European capitals are bracing for heat wave conditions, following wildfires in Greece and flooding in Switzerland over the weekend. High pressure over southern Scandinavian will bring the highest temperatures this year to the UK, with London and parts of the …

Climate Change Made Recent UK and Ireland Storms Much Worse

The heavy downpours seen in the UK and Ireland last fall and winter were about 20% worse because of climate change, a new scientific report found. The region saw as many as 14 severe storms between October and March, flooding …

UK’s Second Biggest Mortgage Lender Pulls Offers Over Flood Risk

The UK’s second biggest mortgage provider has stopped making loans on homes at risk of flooding, over fears they may become uninsurable — and therefore, unsellable — over the coming years. Nationwide Building Society uses mapping technology to identify which …

Thames Water Debt Insurer Taps Advisers as Crisis Deepens

A US insurance firm with at least $2 billion in exposure to Thames Water Utilities Finance Plc is working with bondholders and advisers to protect their interests ahead of potential debt talks, according to people familiar with the matter. Assured …

Southern Water Fined for Sewage Spill That Killed 2,000 Fish in England

Southern Water was fined £330,000 on Tuesday after admitting a raw sewage spill that killed thousands of fish on the edge of England’s South Downs National Park. Southern, which supplies more than 4.6 million people in England, acknowledged that sewage …

Near Record Jump in CO2 Emissions This Year Risks Climate Goal

Carbon dioxide emissions are on track for one of the biggest increases on record this year, pushing the planet closer to catastrophic climate change. That jump is the result human-induced pollution, plus the El Niño weather pattern, which weakens the …

UK Will Fail to Meet Flood-Defense Goals for Homes as Climate Threat Grows

Hundreds of thousands of British homes will miss out on flood protections in the next few years as spending has been affected by Brexit, inflation and the pandemic, according to the National Audit Office. In 2020, the Department for Environment, …

Flash Floods Threaten 126,000 Commercial Buildings in London, and Risk Will Worsen

More than 126,000 commercial buildings in London are at risk from flash flooding. Climate change will heighten that threat. Those are the findings of a new study by Zurich Insurance Group, which mapped every commercial and mixed use property in …

UK Struggles to Adapt to Impact of Climate Change

The UK is struggling to put in place adequate measures to deal with rising sea levels and warmer temperatures caused by pollution, the government’s independent adviser on climate matters has warned. Average land temperatures in the UK have risen by …

Construction of Controversial UK Coal Mine Now Under Review After Climate Backlash

Construction of a coal mine that threatened UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s claim to be a world leader in the fight against climate change is under review after growing opposition. The Woodhouse Colliery would be the first new deep coal …