Climate experts in Manchester warn of more heatwaves and flooding

Climate experts in Manchester say we need to adapt to a changing climate to cope with heatwaves - like we saw in the last week.

Temperatures topped 30 degrees in the region, while the Met Office issued the country's first ever extreme heat warning.

Climate scientists in Manchester now say we'll have to adapt to a new way of life to cope with the conditions.

Professor Walter Leal, a climate change expert from Manchester Metropolitan University, says:

"We are seeing a truly global trend, where a changing climate is leading to more extreme events such as floods, heat waves, forest fires (in the US, Canada but also in Siberia) and droughts.

"They are happening all over the world so it is not an isolated thing.

"I believe we can expect a greater incidence of extreme events in the UK as well, especially heat waves and floods, so we will have our share of the impacts of changes in temperature and erratic rainfall: it does not happen in the summer or the winter, it can happen at anytime."

So have we reached a point of no return? Professor Walter Leal reassures that we haven't.

He says, "We have not yet passed the point of no return as far as coping with climate change is concerned, but we need to take action now in respect of reducing CO2 emissions on the one hand, but also adapting cities and rural communities to extreme events, since climate change is already with us.

Manchester has committed to play its full part in tackling the global climate emergency.

The city has committed to urgent action to reduce its CO2 by at least 50% during 2020-2025 down to zero by 2038 at the very latest.

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