Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has made a comparative assessment of (a) climate change and (b) long-overdue summer sun as potential causes of the heatwave in early September 2023.

A detailed assessment of the September heatwave has not yet been made. The heatwave occurred when a high-pressure system led to clear skies and warm air to be drawn north from continental Europe. Climate change has increased air and sea surface temperatures across the UK and Europe meaning that, while a specific attribution analysis has not yet been conducted for this heatwave, existing scientific evidence suggests that it is very likely temperatures were higher than they might otherwise have been under the same weather pattern in a world without human-induced climate change.