Climate change is causing a “trend” towards more heatwave temperatures, Downing Street warned today.
Boris Johnson’s official spokesman pointed blame at global warming as the UK braces for its hottest day on record, with temperatures expected to spiral as high as 41C.
The Met Office issued a red alert warning of extreme heat from Monday to the end of Tuesday in much of England.
Downing Street said there was a trend towards higher temperatures as a result of climate change.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said Boris Johnson "has spoken passionately about the impact of climate change, not least at Cop26".
"I think there is agreement we are seeing a trend towards higher temperatures because of the impact of climate change.
"That's why the UK has led action in this space. Over the past three decades the UK has driven down emissions faster than any other G7 country and we want to go further."
Met Office chief executive Professor Penelope Endersby told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: "These temperatures are unattainable in the UK without climate change, they just don't appear in the ensembles at all.
"They're still rare in today's 1.1 - 1.2-degree warmed climate.
“But by 2100, we're expecting them to be anywhere between one in 15 and one in three years, depending on the emissions pathways we take between now and then."
It comes amid a furious debate about the next Prime Minister's commitment to Britain's climate goals - and accusations the current Prime Minister is not acting fast enough.
TSSA rail union General Secretary, Manuel Cortes, said: “Government must urgently wake up to the reality that our planet is on fire.
“For too many years politicians have failed to invest anything like enough to make our railways resilient in the face of the climate crisis, never mind doing what is needed to decarbonise our economy, for example increasing rail fares while cutting domestic air passenger duty.”
Unite national health and safety adviser Rob Miguel called for a maximum working temperature of 30C - or 27C for strenuous jobs.
He said: “As the climate changes, it is vital that health and safety law is updated in line with the serious challenges this presents for workers. We urge the government to get a move on with this so that there can be no ambiguities in the workplace.”
The UK’s COP26 climate summit President, Alok Sharma, threatened to resign if key climate pledges were watered down by the next Tory leader.
All the candidates except Kemi Badenoch - who is not widely expected to make the final two - support the goal of reaching Net Zero emissions by 2050.
But several have dropped policies that would help achieve that goal, with Liz Truss pledging a pause on green levies on energy bills.
Penny Mordaunt supports the goal but took two £10,000 donations from a business run by tycoon Terence Mordaunt, a trustee of the controversial Global Warming Policy Foundation.
He told the open-Democracy website in 2019: “No one has proved yet that CO2 is the culprit. It may not be. If you ask me should we just put CO2 in the air, I would say ‘no’.
“And that is the stance of the Global Warming Policy Foundation. It is a credible theory."
Meanwhile, a new poll shows tackling greenhouse gas emissions is bottom of the list of priorities for Tory voters who will choose the next Prime Minister.
Just 4% of Conservative members put the hitting "net zero" by 2050 was in their top three priorities for their next party chief, who will succeed Boris Johnson in September.
The YouGov survey for the Times found 56% of those surveyed said that winning the next election was the most important issue.
Tory members prioritised controlling immigration next and battling the cost of living crisis, with hitting net zero at the bottom of a list of ten policy areas.
The climate commitment fell behind cutting personal taxes, increasing defence spending and strengthening Britain’s global standing in the poll.
Tory ministers were due to attend an urgent debate in the Commons this afternoon about the UK’s preparedness for scorching temperatures.
Green MP Caroline Lucas, who secured the debate, said: "“The Government is turning up at this national extreme heat emergency with a watering can, when we need a giant fire hose."
Downing Street said a "range of measures" were in place to cope with the impact of the heat.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "In the NHS, for example, we are increasing ambulance control room staff and on NHS 111.
"There are specialist teams from Network Rail and Transport for London monitoring the impact of higher temperatures so they can keep services running."
The Department for Transport is in touch with port operators, highways agencies and the police to "check their contingency plans".
But Boris Johnson has skipped three COBRA meetings on the extreme heat, including at 2.30pm today.
The spokesman said: "Kit Malthouse has made the point that he is taking the lead on the Government's response to the heatwave, he's keeping the Prime Minister fully briefed including over the weekend when the Prime Minister also spoke to a number of secretaries of state about the work they are doing.
"And it is not unusual in Cabinet Government for Cabinet ministers to chair these sorts of things."
