News
London launches its first heat plan amidst sweltering temperatures across the region – June 2026
Posted on 25/06/26 by Jude Hassall
Heat Ready London, launched today, sets out a bold and ambitious vision to protect the capital from increasing temperatures and help adapt to a warming world.
Setting out the scale of the challenge, the Heat Ready London report shows that around 1 million homes in the capital may currently be at high risk of overheating. A further 1,361 schools, 60 hospitals and 351 care homes are located in high-risk areas across the city, while London could face between two and three times as many heatwaves as it currently experiences within 20 years. This week has seen temperatures exceeding 32 degrees in the capital with schools and businesses closing due to the high temperatures and heat impacting vital infrastructure including London’s transport system.
Heat Ready London is a call to action for partners across the capital, providing a framework to drive collective action, protect lives, strengthen resilience and ensure London remains a place where everyone can thrive. It will help shape how cities across the UK respond to rising temperatures and adapt to a warming climate by identifying where action is most urgently needed.
Heat Ready London focuses on six key sectors: the built environment, business and economy, emergency preparedness, resilience and response, health and care, green space and nature,
and infrastructure.
Heat Ready London sets out five objectives for a heat-resilient London:
1. Protect Londoners from the health impacts of high temperatures
2. Reduce inequalities by prioritising those most at risk
3. Ensure buildings, public realm, and green spaces are adapted to heat and provide shade
4. Maintain essential services and infrastructure; and
5. Support productivity and economic resilience.
Recognising that no single organisation can address the scale of the challenge alone, the report sets out 37 priority areas of focus, highlighting where change is most needed in the short, medium and long-term. This includes:
• Expanding access to cooling spaces and public drinking water to deliver well-maintained water points to support hydration and cool outdoor spaces during heat events.
• Retrofitting the highest risk homes to reduce the risk of indoor overheating to protect the most vulnerable, particularly in high-risk areas.
• Increasing urban greening, which will include providing more tree cover and green spaces in priority areas, providing long term cooling and shade.
• Expanding safe access to blue spaces, such as swimming and other recreation based around London’s waterways, that provide opportunities for residents to cool down.
• Strengthening health and care system resilience, which will ensure a more coordinated and integrated communications effort during heat incidents.
• Improving the resilience of critical infrastructure, which includes making London’s transport infrastructure as reliable and safe as operationally feasible in high temperatures.
The London Climate Ready Partnership looks forward to working with the Mayor to realise this vision and start delivering on the priorities outlined in the report.