Current vulnerability to severe weather in the East Midlands
Climate change is likely to mean more frequent severe weather events, such as droughts, floods and heatwaves. (See the section on Future Climate for more information on the climate projections.) To understand how we might be affected by future climate change, a useful place to start is to assess how recent severe weather events have affected us. What is our current vulnerability to severe weather events?
In the East Midlands, the upper-tier and unitary Local Authorities have been assessing the current vulnerability of their operations by undertaking Local Climate Impacts Profiles (LCLIPs), which reviewed the impacts of severe weather since 2000. The upper-tier Local Authorities also worked with their District and Borough Councils. Most of the work was done in 2008-9, with on-going updates when new severe weather events occur.
In 2007, NHS Nottingham City (a Primary Care Trust) became the first NHS Trust to conduct an LCLIP, and this was updated in 2009. It looked at NHS services in the Nottingham area, not just PCT operations. In an innovative next step, a report was produced that integrated NHS Nottingham City's LCLIP with Nottingham City Council's LCLIP. This highlighted shared areas of vulnerability, and where there could be knock-on consequences from severe weather impacts. It concluded that there is a need for cross-organisational and cross-sectoral coordination on adaptation, because organisations do not have control over all the factors that affect their vulnerability to climate change. The Environment Agency Midlands-East Area also conducted an LCLIP, looking at the impacts of recent severe weather on its operations. These reports are not yet publicly available, but we hope to make them available soon.
LCLIP methodology
The rationale behind an LCLIP, a how-to guide, and case studies, can be found on the UKCIP website.
Local Authority LCLIP findings
Summaries of the individual local authority LCLIPs will be available to download soon.
Some of the local authorities have already made their LCLIP reports available online:
- Lincolnshire County Council
A collated spreadsheet of severe weather impacts in the East Midlands, identified during the LCLIP process, will be available soon. It will be a useful tool for other organisations and community groups to find out about impacts in their area, without having to conduct an LCLIP themselves.
East Midlands economy
The East Midlands Development Agency (emda) commissioned the Met Office to examine the way weather has influenced the economy of the East Midlands in recent years, and consider how climate change may influence these relationships throughout the 21st century. The report was published in 2010, and is available from the emda Knowledge Bank, an online searchable database of emda's legacy documents. For ease of downloading, the "Climate Change and the East Midlands Economy" 2010 report, and its Appendix, are also available here.
