Britons survived sweltering temperatures during the days of empire, a Tory former minister has said as he cautioned against taking the threat of extreme heat “overseriously”.
In making his case at Westminster, Lord Robathan argued people continued to withstand hot climates in India and Africa, and believed UK residents should “just take sensible precautions”.
The Conservative peer and former SAS officer made his remarks as a second amber heat health alert was issued in as many weeks, with temperatures again set to pass 30C over the weekend.
Earlier this month, a Met Office study detailed the increasing likelihood of extreme temperatures in the UK as a result of climate change and underlined the need for society to prepare.
Speaking during a question on the issue in Parliament, Lord Robathan said: “We should not take climate change in any way lightly nor indeed the rise in heat.
“But I think we should also remember, during those wicked days of empire, we all went to India and Africa, and do you know something people managed to survive, and they still survive in India and Africa and places.
“So I don’t think we should take this overseriously.
“Does the minister agree that actually we should just take sensible precautions?”
Responding, Labour frontbencher Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent said: “I think that’s the most House of Lords question I’ve had so far.”
She highlighted the record-breaking heatwave of 2022, which saw temperatures reach more than 40C in the UK for the first time, peaking at 40.3C in Coningsby in Lincolnshire.
It led to more than 3,000 heat-related deaths in England over the summer that year and a spike in destructive wildfires.
Lady Anderson said: “The impact of heat in the UK is something we are going to have to deal with.”
She added: “We also have to make sure that British nationals have the support when they travel too, which is why we’ve issued guidance only this week about excessive heat in Spain, Greece, Turkey and Cyprus.
“We need to make sure that people look after themselves where they travel, wherever they are.”
Independent crossbencher Baroness Hayman, a director of Peers for the Planet parliamentary group, said: “Should we not be aware… that extreme heat affects us in certain ways, but extreme heat overseas can have devastating effects on crops, with drought, famine and population changes and movements, so we should not treat this lightly?
“Alongside the need for mitigation, resilience measures… is not the proof of the increased likelihood of these sorts of episodes an absolute clarion call for this country not to withdraw or retreat from our commitment to domestic progress and international leadership on fighting further climate change?”
Lady Anderson said: “It is clear that the chance of 40C days in the UK is now 20 times higher than it was in the 1960s, and we have a 50:50 chance of a 40C day within the next 12 years.
“This is changing within the UK, and obviously that has a knock-on effect on climate elsewhere, which is why we need to take this extremely seriously in terms of our impact on the environment.”
She pointed to steps being taken across the Government to tackle climate change and reach the emissions goal of net-zero by 2050.
Earlier, she told peers: “This Government are taking action to strengthen the UK’s resilience, including against environmental threats such as the recent heatwave.
“The national risk register details the wide-ranging impacts of extreme heat to ensure that comprehensive contingency plans are in place.”
