The UK should introduce maximum workplace temperatures to protect staff from worsening heatwaves as climate change increasingly threatens employee health, productivity and safety, government advisers have warned.
The recommendation comes amid growing concerns that British workplaces, schools and public infrastructure are unprepared for more extreme summer temperatures, with experts warning that parts of the UK could regularly experience temperatures above 40C in future decades.
The Climate Change Committee (CCC) said rising heat, flooding and drought now posed a serious threat to Britain’s economy, infrastructure and “way of life”. It warned that extreme heat represented one of the biggest climate-related risks facing workers and employers.
Heatwaves could reshape workplaces
In a report released on Wednesday, the CCC said the government should introduce legal workplace temperature protections similar to rules already operating in countries such as Spain.
Baroness Brown, chair of the CCC’s Adaptation Committee, said excessive heat was already affecting employee concentration, safety and productivity.
“It’s a very sensible thing to do because we know that productivity drops very significantly when the weather gets very hot and we know that people become more prone to making mistakes and to having accidents,” she said.
The committee did not recommend a specific maximum temperature for UK workplaces but pointed to Spain’s legal indoor limits of 27C for sedentary work and 25C for light physical work. The warning comes after the UK recorded its hottest summer on record last year.
The report called for wider use of cooling technologies, including air conditioning, heat pumps and shaded buildings, particularly in workplaces, schools and hospitals. The CCC warned that more than 90 percent of existing UK homes could overheat during severe heatwaves if adaptation measures are not introduced.
It also said the UK had been built for “a climate that no longer exists today”.
Baroness Brown criticised the response of successive governments to climate adaptation risks. “We need to recognise that there are aspects of our British way of life which are now really under threat from climate,” she said.
Productivity and wellbeing concerns growing
The warning comes as employers increasingly face questions over worker safety during extreme weather events and rising concern about the impact of overheating on wellbeing and performance.
Research has previously linked high workplace temperatures to lower concentration, increased fatigue, higher accident rates and declining productivity. The committee estimated adapting the UK to future climate risks could cost around £11 billion a year across the public and private sectors.
But it argued the long-term economic savings would significantly outweigh the upfront investment. The CCC also warned that climate-related disruption could intensify pressure on employers already dealing with rising operating costs, labour shortages and economic uncertainty.
Alongside heatwaves, the report warned that flooding and drought risks were also increasing rapidly.
Peak river flows in some areas could rise by up to 45 percent during periods of intense rainfall by the middle of the century, while water shortages in England could exceed five billion litres a day by 2055 without stronger action.
Government response
The government said it would consider the committee’s recommendations carefully. Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said ministers were already taking steps to respond to climate-related threats.
“We are acting to protect people and places from the impacts of climate change that are already being felt across the UK, from flooding to extreme heat and drought,” she said.
The report forms part of the CCC’s latest assessment of the UK’s readiness for climate change adaptation. The committee stressed that reducing emissions remained essential but warned that significant climate impacts were now unavoidable.
William Furney is a Managing Editor at Black and White Trading Ltd based in Kingston upon Hull, UK. He is a prolific author and contributor at Workplace Wellbeing Professional, with over 127 published posts covering HR, employee engagement, and workplace wellbeing topics. His writing focuses on contemporary employment issues including pension schemes, employee health, financial struggles affecting workers, and broader workplace trends.
- William Furney
- William Furney
- William Furney
- William Furney
