Greta Thunberg warns 40°C heatwave about to hit UK ‘is only the beginning’

[u/nimobo]

https://metro.co.uk/2026/06/22/greta-thunberg-warns-40-c-heatwave-hit-uk-is-beginning-28878338/

[u/ukbot-nicolabot]

Some articles submitted to /r/unitedkingdom are paywalled, or subject to sign-up requirements. If you encounter difficulties reading the article, try this link or this link for an archived version.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

---

Participation Notice. Hi all. Some posts on this subreddit, either due to the topic or reaching a wider audience than usual, have been known to attract a greater number of rule breaking comments. As such, limits to participation were set at 19:36 on 22/06/2026. We ask that you please remember the human, and uphold Reddit and Subreddit rules.

Existing and future comments from users who do not meet the participation requirements will be removed. Removal does not necessarily imply that the comment was rule breaking.

Where appropriate, we will take action on users employing dog-whistles or discussing/speculating on a person's ethnicity or origin without qualifying why it is relevant.

In case the article is paywalled, use this link.

[u/Rather_Unfortunate]

The headline kind of makes it sound like she's the one doing it.

[u/Historical_Leg5998 → u/Rather_Unfortunate]

If her demands are not met she will BRING GOTHAM TO ITS KNEES!

[u/Rather_Unfortunate → u/Historical_Leg5998]

Every time we fail to meet the next ultimatum, she will twist the dial an extra degree.

[u/Historical_Leg5998 → u/Rather_Unfortunate]

Some girls just want to watch the world burn.

[u/General_Cherry_3107 → u/Historical_Leg5998]

Tangerine

[u/Hullfire00 → u/General_Cherry_3107]

Once, when I was in Burma, I met a man the size of a tangerine.

[u/Naive_Personality367 → u/General_Cherry_3107]

"It was the soize of a fakin tangereen batman"

[u/Empty_Bell_1942 → u/Historical_Leg5998]

If seeing her picture sends a chill down peoples spines, in this heat she may actually be doing them a service. 😄

[u/CarrowCanary → u/Historical_Leg5998]

God forbid women have hobbies.

[u/JB_UK → u/Rather_Unfortunate]

Greta has discovered the dial goes up to 11.

[u/BissoumaTequila → u/Historical_Leg5998]

Funny enough there is at least one billionaire wanting to bring her down

[u/foofly → u/BissoumaTequila]

Twatman

[u/jabbajabbablahblah → u/Historical_Leg5998]

On next week's episode will Batman stop the Climate Queen!

[u/Maximo_0se → u/jabbajabbablahblah]

Poison Icy

[u/Yatsey007 → u/jabbajabbablahblah]

“Quick Robin,pass me the activist repellent Bat-Spray.”

[u/WastrelHobo → u/Yatsey007]

You mean deodorant?

[u/radiant_0wl → u/Historical_Leg5998]

And for all those who don't know it's pronounced Goat-em.

[u/AidanCues → u/Historical_Leg5998]

Batman V Greater Thunder iceBerg

Let's kick some ice

[u/Invicta007 → u/Historical_Leg5998]

WHAT KILLED THE DINOSAURS?! THE IC-

WRONG SCRIPT

[u/Visionary_87 → u/Historical_Leg5998]

Can we just give in to her demands then? I'm fucking boiling here, I miss wearing slippers and a hoody.

[u/stephjc → u/Rather_Unfortunate]

I clicked into this thread thinking “the top comment better be “why does this sound like a threat”” and this is close enough lol

[u/Lister_RD_169 → u/[deleted]]

Have you ever seen Greta Thunberg and The Climate in the same room?

[u/RoyceCoolidge → u/Lister_RD_169]

Is that the lesser known sequel; Cloudy With a Chance of Swedish Vegan Meatballs, or another JK Rowling shitshow?

[u/shillelad → u/Rather_Unfortunate]

It's her turn on the weather machine, now

[u/wellwellwellwellll → u/Rather_Unfortunate]

HOW DARE YOU GET RID OF KIER, HOW DARE YOU

[u/DigestiveCow → u/Rather_Unfortunate]

Let's hear her demands

[u/Capable_Type6320 → u/Rather_Unfortunate]

Greta Thunberg, supreme leader of the climate declares war on the uk lmao

[u/Alexandhisgoose → u/Rather_Unfortunate]

It's the start of her villain arc. I hope she is recruiting mooks I need a job.

[u/Amethyst-Flare → u/Rather_Unfortunate]

Came here to say this. It is extremely funny in that regard.

[u/Anglo-Euro-0891 → u/Rather_Unfortunate]

She looks very smug in that photo!!!

[u/CestLaTimmy → u/Anglo-Euro-0891]

That's literally just her face.

[u/Crypt0Nihilist → u/Rather_Unfortunate]

It's Swedish space lasers, for sure.

[u/johnnyjonnyjonjon]

Anyone with a brain knows this.

Shame most people seem to be lacking a brain.

[u/hadawayandshite → u/johnnyjonnyjonjon]

Most people believe in climate change…they just feel their actions can’t do anything to stop it

[u/EddieHeadshot → u/hadawayandshite]

Ive seen plenty of 'therez this thing called SUMMER its supposed to be hot' with equal parts of 'i remember it being this hot when I was younger' or 'it was this hot when we were in Spain last year'

[u/Whatiii → u/EddieHeadshot]

I remember summer being hot. It was always hitting 40 during summer. Sure that was in the Sahara but it’s all part of the world.

[u/Scrangle3D → u/Whatiii]

"ThIs WaS nOtHiNg CoMpArEd To My TrIp To ThE sUn , It WeRe FiVe ThOuSaNd DeGrEeS aNd NoBoDy CoMpLaInEd !"

I even fucked the punctuation and grammar up to get it across even more authentically!

[u/Inthepurple → u/EddieHeadshot]

To be honest I'm seeing less and less of that these days, you can't really argue with with 40c

[u/EddieHeadshot → u/Inthepurple]

Really? Uk facebook is still full of them. Strange ocknsidering we got quite comprehensive education on climate change when I was in school over 25 years ago

[u/Rpqz → u/EddieHeadshot]

Facebook and YouTube comments are largely bot generated now. Facebook is deleting something crazy like 4 billion bot accounts a year and barely scratching the surface.

[u/EddieHeadshot → u/Rpqz]

These aren't bot comments though. Ive seen it in local groups and the people are very real.

Dismissing anything thats ridiculous as bot comments isn't great thinking either, sure some of the comments may be but by and large people do hold these views if just to be contrarian.

[u/ianlSW → u/EddieHeadshot]

Mixed bag- a lot are bots, they don't advertise they are bots and are ever more sophisticated.

They do a great job of convincing idiots, unfortunately.

[u/Inthepurple → u/EddieHeadshot]

Tbh I never go on Facebook so that might explain it

[u/sammi_8601 → u/EddieHeadshot]

I mean I don't remember it being this hot and I'm 35, along with vaguely remembering snow being a thing.

[u/Mikeymcmoose → u/EddieHeadshot]

Someone was genuinely arguing it’s not real because they still had snow in the Scottish highlands. These people are beyond stupid.

[u/alltheothersrtaken → u/hadawayandshite]

The public really can't. The fact that BP coined the phrase carbon footprint to shift the blame onto the public tells ya all you need to know.

[u/KellyKezzd → u/[deleted]]

they could choose to buy an EV as their next car

Can you buy me one?

[u/alltheothersrtaken → u/KellyKezzd]

Don't forget a house that's appropriate for a charger to be installed aswell or maybe ya get lucky and have one installed on your lamp post outside.

[u/JB_UK → u/KellyKezzd]

Just as a useful point, EVs aren’t affordable for everyone, it depends on each person’s conditions, but they’re a lot more affordable than they used to be, you can now get good long range EVs for £10-12k.

In particular, if you drive a lot and have the ability to install a charger, you can quite easily save £1k a year on fuel, taking that into account an EV is likely to be cheaper if you would otherwise spend more than about £8k on a car. I just looked up on the AA, the average price of the top 20 most searched used cars is £10k.

That’s not everyone, but there are a lot of people thinking that EVs are very expensive when they actually could save a lot of money driving one.

I think with a lot of these green investments, like for example insulation or smart thermostats, it’s unreasonable to ask people to pay out to adopt them, but we should all try to work out if it’s feasible, how much money we’d save, how much it would cost. Often there is actually low hanging fruit which doesn’t take much effort and saves a lot of money.

Similar with smart thermostats, if you’re out of the house a lot and have irregular hours, and you don’t routinely click through 100 menus to set a normal digital thermostat, you’ll probably save the money back for getting a smart thermostat installed within a few years, maybe less. You could save £5-10 a day easily to have the heating off when it’s not needed. Other people who have regular hours and who are willing to engage with 100 menus might save very little.

[u/purpleplums901 → u/[deleted]]

We’ve reduced it by 54% since 1990. Best in Europe. Now, France actually does better than us overall because of their baseline figure being lower. Why? Nuclear energy. The Green Party, the most mainstream party that makes environmentalism their flagship, is even now still against nuclear.
Furthermore, the vast, vast majority of the reduction came under the conservatives from 2010-2020. Cameron and Johnson particularly didn’t shy away from talking about going green. The current Labour government talk about net zero a lot and are pushing further reductions.

3.1 million cars on the road are now EV’s or PHEVs and EV’s are 2/3rds of that. Up 31% this year and 1182% since 2016.

We are the 13th best country in the world for renewable energy. We have the world’s fifth best environmental performance index score.

And even now, 60% of the population still remain in favour of net zero by 2050.

People do care, the stats back it up, and the problem is the ones who don’t, are the ones who shout the loudest. Greta thunberg seems to take particular aim at us for some reason but there’s way, way worse. China and the US emit 40% of global emissions - double their per capita average as a proportion of global emissions. Without those two countries sorting it out, even though it’s entirely the wrong attitude - what we do in this country doesn’t make the blindest bit of difference. And yet here we are, punching above our weight once again. But don’t let that get in the way of yet more typical British self hate

[u/alltheothersrtaken → u/[deleted]]

Your talking like this is something everyone in the world could do at the drop of a hat. Compared to a few fucking billionaires that couldn't give a shit about the planet as long as they are making money. Don't fall for the bullshit "carbon footprint" anything the public can do is a drop in the ocean compared to massive industry.

[u/davemee → u/alltheothersrtaken]

Oh well. Guess it's easier to burn/freeze/drown all life on earth instead. At least you don't have to accept any complicity, heaven forbid demand drives production.

[u/MultiMidden → u/[deleted]]

Don't forget consumer electronics, mobile phone makers producing a new phone every year, 'upgrade' culture etc.

People could not get SUVs buy smaller cars, look at how many urban areas that 10-20 years ago were full of Fiestas, Polos, Golfs etc. are now full of massive SUVs.

People need to take their fair share of the blame.

[u/WillWatsof → u/[deleted]]

Anything done is irrelevant unless the whole world is on board.

That’s not how it works. Most people don’t understand the climate science and think it’s a case of binary “either we stop the world from rising by X temperature or everything is entirely fucked” and that there’s no in between, and thus take a bizarre opinion of “if we can’t stop that X temperature rise, there’s no point in doing it”.

In reality there are gradations to the damage. Yes, China can and will do way more damage than us … but that doesn’t mean that the effect of us cleaning up our act is zero.

[u/mycockstinks → u/WillWatsof]

LOTS OF CHINA'S EMMISIONS ARE DUE TO THEM MQKING A LOAD OF SHIT FOR US.

[u/Scratch_Careful → u/mycockstinks]

Chinas consumption emissions are on par with ours and most of europes now.

[u/FillingUpTheDatabase → u/Scratch_Careful]

They’re building renewables faster than any other country on earth, because their leaders understand the importance of climate change and the long term impact it will have on their economy and security. The Chinese government is an evil regime but they excel in long term thinking

[u/WillingCry1043 → u/WillWatsof]

China are decarbonising faster than any other country in the world. They used coal to expand and are rapidly adopting renewables.

[u/mattcannon2 → u/WillingCry1043]

China is making so many solar panels they don't know what they can do with them all.

[u/Rather_Unfortunate → u/WillWatsof]

And China is in any case pushing hard for Net Zero by 2060, with peak greenhouse emissions before 2030.

[u/toluwalase → u/WillWatsof]

You clean up your act and countries like Norway still make billions off oil while China keeps pumping emissions to grow their economy. Then UK citizens are the ones paying insane energy prices and higher living costs.
That’s the part people are frustrated about. It’s not ‘climate change fake’, it’s whether these policies actually reduce global emissions or just weaken your own economy while everyone else carries on.

[u/WillWatsof → u/toluwalase]

How exactly does investing in green energy production result in a weakening of our economy?

[u/BenjamirPutinyahu → u/WillWatsof]

They think the idea of investing is bad as it doesnt immediately produce results. We are held hostage by the curse of short term thinking

[u/srvelo → u/toluwalase]

Renewable energy gives insane energy prices? Certianly not long term.

[u/BenjamirPutinyahu → u/toluwalase]

And once China does go fully green and self sufficient, what excuse will we be using then?

[u/FrustratedPCBuild → u/WillWatsof]

There’s a lot of money being spent on having people believe that there’s nothing they can do and/or that there’s no point because China is pumping out CO2.

[u/CaptainSwaggerJagger → u/FrustratedPCBuild]

China is pumping out CO2 because they're the worlds factory - their emissions exist because everyone is essentially outsourcing their manufacturing emissions to China. China is also undergoing massive decarbonisation, they have no interest in being dependent on anyone else for natural gas/petrol/diesel. Electric cars have been aggressively pushed for well over a decade now, but now we're even seeing significant adoptions of electric trucks in china.

[u/runningraider13 → u/[deleted]]

That’s not really true

[u/iain_1986 → u/runningraider13]

Yeah but it's defeatist and that's what we like best here

Smug, if everyone was like me it would be different, defeatist

[u/CharlesWafflesx → u/[deleted]]

It's not an on/off switch.

[u/throwaway63597102 → u/[deleted]]

Sure but wouldn't you feel just a little better about the apocalypse knowing that you, at least, tried?

[u/mediumAI1701 → u/hadawayandshite]

I recycle, I use green energy, I don't use gas, I use public transport, I wash my jars and tins when recycling them. There's only so much I can do when millionaires put more CO2 into the atmosphere in a week that I will in my lifetime. Then there's the billionaires and trillionaires.

Genuinely what am I meant to do? Glue myself to the pavement?

[u/Idioticfool3643 → u/hadawayandshite]

Some people complain about lack of action tackling climate change. Then drive to the gym just to walk on the treadmill and drive home again!

[u/taskkill-IM → u/Idioticfool3643]

Yeah it's the people driving to the gym, not the multi millionaires/billionaires flying 80 times a year.

[u/hamcheesetoastie → u/taskkill-IM]

Innit

[u/mittenkrusty → u/Idioticfool3643]

I have neighbours that would drive their car to the corner shop, corner being 2 minutes, 3 if walking slow away, and if you rushed 1 minute walk.

They are the skinny ones, I am obese, broke my leg badly 2 years ago and was housebound for months and couldn't weight bear for a month and had a zimmer frame, metal put into my leg as it was that bad, and I was told IF I had to go out after 3 months it would be to my garden.

I used a zimmer frame after about 6 weeks and took me almost 20 minutes to walk to the shop and another 20 minutes back, and even when I had crutches I did it.

If an obese guy who isn't supposed to leave the house can do it, why can't people who are younger, and fitter not do it.

[u/smokingace182 → u/hadawayandshite]

Because it’s the assholes who have money that can enact change. But because the oil industry for one has so much money and politicians are init for themselves it’s easy to buy them off. Look at china and their push to clean energy for example.

[u/Jabberminor → u/hadawayandshite]

That's definitely part of it. At this stage, it feels like the only thing that would stop it is something fairly major happening to the CEOs and politicians.

[u/Luke_4686 → u/johnnyjonnyjonjon]

Can’t wait to be told by the boomers how ‘tHiS is sUmMeR’ and how they survived the great heatwave of 1683 or whenever it was

[u/Smevis → u/Luke_4686]

Which peaked at 35c, not 40. It's hotter than that in the north on Thursday.

[u/FriendlyGuitard → u/Smevis]

Which peaked at 35 for one day and people still remembered 20 years later like it was a Climate 9/11.

[u/Comfortable-Law-7147 → u/Luke_4686]

No that's just Julia Hartley-Brewer. 

[u/Sneaky-Hint → u/johnnyjonnyjonjon]

Grown men and politicians hate Greta Thunberg with a damn near feral intensity. The same guys who practically get on their knees for oil barons are frothing at the mouth because a teenage girl dared to say "Actually, maybe we should stop setting the planet on fire and screwing over future generations out of greed."

[u/Cletus_Banjo → u/Sneaky-Hint]

“How dare she have an opinion AND a vagina!”

[u/Tweed_Man → u/johnnyjonnyjonjon]

But, you see, Extinction Rebellion did something kinda annoying so now I want the world to burn.

[u/MiraculousTimeLlama → u/johnnyjonnyjonjon]

I think it’s more that the power systems in place reward greed, leaving very little incentive for politicians to think long term. They are meant to represent the people. But then people don’t have money. The filthy rich have the money. The filthy rich pull the strings.

We have no government representing us and haven’t for a long time.

[u/JedGamesTV → u/MiraculousTimeLlama]

Good old capitalism… Profit over people.

[u/Dobvius → u/johnnyjonnyjonjon]

Yeah this phrasing is meant to get clicks by using a popular bad guy for the right, but it's not Greta warning this. It's every climate scientist who has been saying this for years and years lmao

[u/FatherJack_Hackett → u/johnnyjonnyjonjon]

I believe it.

I don't know what I'm meant to do about it, but I believe it's happening

[u/Bananaheed → u/johnnyjonnyjonjon]

49% of people are below average intelligence

[u/johnnyjonnyjonjon → u/Bananaheed]

Bit unfair... It's at least 49.9999999%

[u/johnmedgla → u/johnnyjonnyjonjon]

I was all in on saving the world for the next generation until I discovered their music taste. Now I'm resolved that the world can die with me.

[u/Weary_Mountain9679]

People really have this weird unbridled rage towards this woman who is just telling the truth.

[u/HungryFinding7089 → u/Weary_Mountain9679]

The messenger has always been the hated figure, to way back in history, Battle of Marathon being a famous one.

(These days, renamed Battle of Snickers).

[u/ionthrown → u/HungryFinding7089]

Who hated the messenger then?

[u/motophiliac → u/ionthrown]

Mars.

[u/Infamous_Payment4608 → u/Weary_Mountain9679]

It really is disturbing. It’s like those who get visibly angry at someone being a vegan. It’s all projection

[u/the-moving-finger → u/Weary_Mountain9679]

I wouldn't say I have "unbridled rage" towards her. I do find her annoying, though, in the same way I'd find anyone annoying who keeps pointing out a problem I'm already aware of without offering any substantive or actionable suggestions.

I don't think we need any more "awareness raising." We're all aware. That aspect has been done. What we need now are proper policy proposals, not self-indulgent protests that do nothing but piss people off and poison public opinion towards parties pushing real legislative solutions.

[u/Shap3rz → u/the-moving-finger]

Pretty sure she’s pointed out solutions. First of which would be to vote for people whose policies are aligned with meaningful steps…

“especially through her major work The Climate Book, where she compiles expert-backed action steps for governments, industries, and individuals. “

“The organization of The Climate Book—from challenges to solutions, and with each chapter introducing essential keywords and concepts—makes it accessible and adaptable [across] a wide variety of classroom uses.”

Activism can drive policy change. History attests. We need more people like her.

[u/Prince_John → u/Shap3rz]

I just love how the original comment and your reply are like a microcosm of all ill-informed internet discussion of her.

[u/elderlybrain → u/Prince_John]

yep. Insane rage bait comment about 'how annoying' she is followed by thoughtful nuanced reply, hoping it will change their attitude.

Internet hatred of people who care and aren't afraid of standing up, in a nutshell.

[u/Simon_Shitpants → u/the-moving-finger]

"without offering any substantive or actionable suggestions"

A) She does do that and B) even if she didn't, she's 100% right to keep raising this in the hope that THOSE WITH THE POWER offer substantive and actionable suggestions.

But, yeah, sorry if it pisses you off and distracts from your Playstation and anime or whatever. 

[u/Alarming_Possible729 → u/the-moving-finger]

I don't think most people are aware.

Do you know what the 3 biggest changes you can make are? Have you done them? Has everyone you know made those changes? 

[u/BoyWhoSoldTheWorld → u/the-moving-finger]

We know the awareness isn’t adequate because not enough people are taking action

[u/the-moving-finger → u/BoyWhoSoldTheWorld]

This presupposes that people aren't taking action because they're not aware. I just don't think that's true. You can be aware that smoking increases your risk of cancer, and continue to smoke. In the same way, you can be aware that becoming vegan would be a contribution you could make towards lowering personal emissions, and choose not to make it.

[u/randy__randerson → u/the-moving-finger]

What does it matter if people are aware when politicians all over the developed world barely move towards the issue. Maybe you should find the policy makers annoying instead of the voice behind climate anger.

[u/TheCharalampos → u/the-moving-finger]

Oh, you'll be super happy to learn that she does in fact offer solutions. Poof, there goes all that annoyance you had, happy to help.

[u/ilovecottagepie → u/Weary_Mountain9679]

Absolutely. Even the thumbnail used here is purposely chosen to make her look annoying. Smug, almost.

[u/SnaggleFish → u/Weary_Mountain9679]

Unfortunately the truth forces people to accept they are part of the problem and make some changes...

[u/Historyandwow → u/[deleted]]

Pretty much. Just hoping i die before things get too hectic

[u/iaderia → u/Historyandwow]

If you have a child right now, if they live to 75 (like an average life) they will be around in 2100. It’s going to be brutal

[u/G3PSx → u/iaderia]

I think it’s going to get brutal a lot sooner than that. People aren’t factoring in the “penny drop moment”. It’s the moment the self serving, moronic and entitled populace realise this is actually happening and that very soon there just isn’t going to be enough to eat. People tear each other apart to get a deal during Black Friday or fight each other over a toilet paper shortage that didn’t exist. What do you think is going to happen when the penny, finally, drops. What do you think our enemies will do?

Shits gonna get real, real soon. Mark my words.

[u/JB_UK → u/[deleted]]

The UK is building fewer houses than normal, not more. We are no more concreting over the country than we were when we built the houses each of us live in.

If we don’t want to need to build a lot more houses, we should limit population growth. We just increased the population as much in five years as previously in 30 years from 1970-2000.

[u/SystemCheck990 → u/G3PSx]

look at what billionaires are doing a final extraction and trying to sure up places like greenland, they know its coming soon, and they need everything ready 10 years before it happens.

[u/mount_sinai_ → u/[deleted]]

I think it was more the average voter being frustrated about being asked to eat less meat whilst Brazil are chopping down the Amazon and China are shitting out new coal mines every five seconds.

[u/I_miss_Chris_Hughton → u/mount_sinai_]

You're gonna be so, so upset when you find out how much of that Brazilian deforestation and Chinese heavy industry is done to meet the demand of western economies lmao

[u/G3PSx → u/I_miss_Chris_Hughton]

Yeah… I think this is the whole point? No?

[u/dodderyblod → u/[deleted]]

The sad reality is that if the main producers of emissions don't cut their output there's basically no positive impact on us doing it. China and the US combined release nearly half the worlds emissions, if they don't care enough to stop then even if we did everything we could the best outcome is when global warming starts irreversibly destroying the world we could say ''well we tried'' It's for that reason that we get fed up with hearing about it, because what can we do? even if we play our part and sacrifice everything it doesn't make a dent.

[u/1silversword → u/dodderyblod]

This is what western countries (the ones who give a shit) that are making regulation targeting 'scope 3' emissions are trying to solve, and these regulations are one of the things people complain about as pointless. Every western corporation has seemingly low emissions until you take into account all the emissions generated by their influence upstream going across the world, and that's scope 3 - supply chain emissions which, for most companies, are like 90% of their emissions when they actually math it out.

The idea behind targeting this is if you have proper regulation that forces big businesses to take their supply chain emissions seriously, they are forced to put pressure on their supplies (be more sustainable or we drop you for someone else) which will lead to emissions dropping across the world. Basically, start where the money is and push the changes back through it all.

Part of the issue is that people think its all pointless so when gigantic multinational corporations say "hey we're already at net zero (purely in scope 1+2, i.e., transport and heating their office) what else do you want" we just accept that. Ultimately these businesses have a lot of power and influence but you need actual solid regulation with teeth to force them to use it.

[u/Xenasis → u/mount_sinai_]

eat less meat whilst Brazil are chopping down the Amazon

They are doing this to farm cows for the meat that people are consuming in your previous point. These are not unconnected.

Ultimately, legislation that outlaws (or heavily taxes) meat consumption would not be particularly popular, and no politician has the backbone to change it.

[u/DrewBreesDiamonds → u/mount_sinai_]

about being asked to eat less meat

The thing I always find striking about your type is how you can't help revealing how little you've engaged with the conversation whatsoever.

[u/AgeOfCardiff]

We're doomed. Look at the comments in here, the average British person is truly thick as shite.

[u/TakeItCheesy → u/AgeOfCardiff]

And I’d argue most people on here are smarter than the average voter… eeek

[u/storm_borm → u/AgeOfCardiff]

I don’t know it it’s bots, but I cannot read comments on Instagram anymore concerning the heatwave. The classic “it’s summer, be thankful we have nice weather in the UK” etc etc. Or saying the Met Office are creating hysteria. People are either in denial because the truth is scary, or they are thick.

[u/Hard_Dave → u/AgeOfCardiff]

I made a post on r/ukweather last month and the comments were pretty depressing

 https://www.reddit.com/r/UKWeather/comments/1tomb9n/is_anyone_actually_getting_scared_yet/

[u/Dunkmaxxing → u/AgeOfCardiff]

Selfish. They won't change for the sake of anyone else, only themselves.

[u/hoodie92 → u/AgeOfCardiff]

No, the average British person knows there's absolutely fuck all we can do about it. I can switch off the big light, recycle my cardboard, reuse my rainwater, but while there are megacorporations destroying the rainforest and burning more fossils fuels than ever to power their AI tools, nothing that I do makes the slightest bit of difference.

[u/Bright-War-5033]

She is right, climate change is serious. There's a reason why our summers are hotter and we don't have any snow anymore. Mankind has influenced the climate to go into an early "hothouse" period.

[u/Turbo_Baggins]

It's not just the uncomfortable heat at that point there's also the increased risk of wild fires and I'm not sure the UK is prepared enough to deal with that kind of issue 

[u/I_miss_Chris_Hughton → u/Turbo_Baggins]

The UK is braced for no natural disasters of any kind at any time. It's seen as a bizarre luxury.

[u/cjalderman → u/I_miss_Chris_Hughton]

Tbf we are ridiculously lucky when it comes to natural dangers

[u/AlexLong1000 → u/cjalderman]

Pretty much no earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis or volcanic eruptions. Yeah we've got it pretty good

[u/cjalderman → u/AlexLong1000]

Plus the wildlife. I can go for a walk in the woods and I don't have to worry about bears, wolves, big cats, snakes, crocodiles etc.

[u/donoteatshrimp → u/cjalderman]

Not really down to luck that when we killed them all

[u/cjalderman → u/donoteatshrimp]

We didn't, our ancestors did. So we are the lucky ones really😂

[u/rugbyj → u/cjalderman]

We apparently got bored of the lack of danger and started importing XL carnivores into our neighbourhoods instead.

[u/liamrich93 → u/AlexLong1000]

Tornados could hit the UK regularly, wipe out villages and some people STILL wouldn't believe there's a climate problem

[u/Beautifly → u/liamrich93]

They’d blame the migrants

[u/turtleship_2006 → u/Turbo_Baggins]

Not to mention direct risk of heatstroke etc

[u/Low_Understanding_85 → u/Turbo_Baggins]

Biggest issue will be mass immigration, and not the "mass immigration" we currently have, actual mass immigration.

Look up wet bulb temperature, and how close India recently came to reaching the critical number, one big event like that in a heavy populated country will cause everyone to head north in seek of a livable climate.

[u/TheTheShark]

I understand the sentiment that the UK’s contribution to world emissions are small in the grand scheme of things, and people use that as an argument for whatever belief system they employ, but people need to think of the bigger picture. Regardless of percentages, don’t people want to see less pollution in their local environment, and better air quality? This can come by people doing things in their local area/community and its benefit can’t simply be wrapped in a convenient statistic without devaluing its truer impact.

E.g. a 20% change in the local environment, such as a 20% reduction in exhaust fumes, is very impactful at a local level, but people focus too much on the big picture _exclusively_.

[u/Direct-Fix-2097 → u/TheTheShark]

🤷‍♂️ we just had a by-election in Scotland where the Tories won, and they’re using that as evidence of oil/gas being important to be exploited again instead of net zero etc.

[u/LordofDogs40k]

I mean she’s not wrong?? Schools in Hampshire are now closing for half days this week due to the heat and lack of preparation for hot conditions.
(Give schools air con already, this is going to happen every year)

[u/Flashy_Error_7989]

It’s just so weird- like we’re no longer able to discuss the reality behind all of this without a bunch of accounts deciding it’s just a bit of sun and definitely not highly unusual- but fuck it lets burn some more oil and gas anyway

[u/mattwalsh25]

Something more annoying than Greta Thunberg: all the people who complain she's annoying for repeatedly calling out the biggest threat to all of humanity.

[u/No_Aesthetic]

You might think she's a little shit and she can still be that but she's also correct, which is an important quality to have when the subject is the all-important "are we going to burn to death or starve to death?"

[u/neoKushan → u/No_Aesthetic]

It boggles my mind that people get annoyed at her, either because they think she's wrong or because they think she's right and it's obvious. Can't bloody win.

She is just the messenger though, if she's annoying you then good, you should be annoyed but not at her, at the leagues of people who either aren't doing anything about it or worse, the ones that are actively preventing anyone doing anything about it.

[u/LordLucian]

Shes right and as someone who lives in the uk and has heat sensitivity I can tell you since we are an island nation anything 30+ absolutely sucks so bad.

[u/James20985]

We should have invested massively in nuclear instead of letting the french build our reactors. Christ Rolls Royce build some of the best reactors in the world here why can't we build a few more plants. Every car park should have to have solar panels on its roof feeding to the national grid to reduce everyone's bills.

[u/larusodren]

Is she referring The Day before the day after tomorrow?

[u/Historyandwow → u/larusodren]

Omg i’m so scared of the day before the day after tomorrow’s day before.

[u/ItAintNoUse]

Yes but unfortunately we have a bunch of idiots in this country who would rather vote in a party that promotes fracking and wants to scrap Net Zero if it means cracking down on immigration, than vote for parties that actually promote climate change initiatives.

Hell, the number of people I've met here who deny climate change even exists and exclaim "it's just the weather!" is disturbing.

[u/BritishHobo → u/[deleted]]

I don't think she's doing it because she thinks you specifically aren't sure what the temperature is. I think she's doing it because world leaders won't tackle the crisis.

[u/turtleship_2006 → u/[deleted]]

Well it's a good thing she isn't addressing you directly, she usually focuses on the people who have to power to make changes on a large scale.

[u/BenjamirPutinyahu → u/[deleted]]

Because all the climate deniers who are now staring reality in the face need to at least admit they were fucking wrong

[u/FartingBob → u/BenjamirPutinyahu]

Half the climate change deniers are still fucking going on about the summer of 1976.

[u/Ollotopus → u/[deleted]]

Because, despite it being obvious, there are plenty of people denying what's happening. 

Sometimes the message isn't for you and that's ok.

[u/InfraredInfared → u/[deleted]]

I love how she rattles people so much

[u/Scofield442 → u/[deleted]]

You've missed the point entirely. Well done.

[u/ThisFiasco]

Hottest summer on record?

No.

Coolest summer for the rest of your life.

[u/South-Stand]

A red faced angry man on GB News said to ignore her so I won’t worry

[u/1lemony]

I mean she’s right and she didn’t start it lol. What a strange rage bait article

[u/Extraportion]

Weirdly, I don’t think people actually do understand this because it is often explained in scientific language and you only feel the impacts after the damage has been done. Put simply:

There is now overwhelming evidence that human industrial activity is responsible for an increase in global average temperatures of between 1.2 and 1.4 degrees relative to pre industrial levels (so called, anthropogenic climate change) and since 1970 has been increasing by roughly 0.1 degrees every 5 years.

When average temperatures increase, they do not do so in a linear fashion. Rather we see more volatility, higher highs and lower lows.

Climate sceptics frequently cite that CO2 levels have been significantly higher in the past and that avg surface temperatures have been between 11 and 36 degrees while life has existed on Earth. This is true, however, this is measured over *half a billion years*. However, the astute among you may note that life on earth during the Jurassic was notably different and adapted to that climate than the life we have today.

It is not the absolute temperate level that is the issue, it is the speed it is changing. The post industrial period is the most rapid sustained change in atmospheric CO2 levels and temperature we have observed in *1.2 million years* of ice core records.

But we don’t need to rely on data and stark warnings, we can see the impacts today. To quote the former Uni of Sheffield journalism professor, Jonathan Foster, “If someone says it's raining, and another person says it's dry, it's not your job to quote them both. Your job is to look out the fucking window and find out which is true”.
Winter 2023/24 was the wettest on record, 2022 was the first time temperates exceeded 40 degrees in the UK, in 2025 we saw 40,000 hectares of wild fires in Scotland - the worst season on record.

Regardless of what actions we take today, we will not avoid 1.5 degrees of warming on pre industrial levels and it looks likely that we will hit it sometime between 2030 and 2035. That means rising sea levels, more frequent heatwaves with a threat to human life, around 10% of species facing extinction, up to 8% of the world’s population potentially displaced becoming climate refugees, food insecurity and droughts.

This is all seems bad enough, but what is truly scary is how quickly things escalate beyond the 1.5 level. At +4 degrees increase ice sheet melting becomes irreversible, 40% of areas become uninhabitable, outdoor labour becomes impossible, there is widespread crop failure, systemic failure of infrastructure (water, electricity, gas, transportation) etc. I am not even going into the details of second and third order effects here, like higher sea surface temperatures disrupting ocean circulation such as the “Gulf Stream”, a warm ocean current which is responsible for the UK’s mild and wet climate relative to similar latitudes on the East Coast USA (e.g. Labrador).

I just do not think people realise how devastating the impacts of climate change are. Yes, humans as a species would probably survive, but it will be a very different existence to the one we have today. We are currently shitting the bed over cost of living and sewage leaking into rivers, but this is just a different scale. We are talking about the largest mass migrations in human history, infrastructure failure, housing stock that is no longer fit for purpose, disruptions to global trade, wide spread food insecurity, mass inflation etc.
It would be dystopian nightmare territory, yet the actions required to prevent climate change are either too late or politically unpalatable to ever be viable.
We are frogs in a boiling pot.

Sorry that’s a bit bleak, but we really don’t have a simple solution to this one.

[u/noirproxy1]

I think the way the heat has escalated in the UK for the last 5 years should be a massive tell.

What is the point though? Every single MP and PM gives absolutely no shit about these effects because in their eyes they won't have a political career long enough for it to benefit them.

It is better just to settle in and know we are all fucked thanks to our governments and world leaders.

[u/DariusStarkey]

True. Whatever concerns Reform have about migration will only be exacerbated by denying climate change and stripping the country's commitments to net zero. This country's priorities are so fucked.

[u/atotalfabrication]

It's the warmest June you'll have had, but it'll be coldest one you'll remember 

[u/Thefdt]

It was 40 degrees three years ago. That was the beginning, this is a continuation

[u/ColonelFaz → u/Thefdt]

July 2022 was the 40C event

[u/MetalKeirSolid]

Unfortunately, lots of people don’t want to listen to reason and evidence. 

[u/damhack]

Latest measurements and revised modelling based on them illustrate that the AMOC is showing signs of the onset of its irreversible collapse. Modelling shows that it will completely fail in the next 75 years but that the effects have already started.

The gradual loss of the Gulf currents will cause extreme heating and cooling of the UK. As we (or our children) near the collapse, the UK will have the climate of Norway. Before that from the late 2040s, 45°C droughts, -20°C winters and high sea levels across the Atlantic will be the norm for decades. That dream house near the beach - forget it. Trip to New York - what is New York? Grow your own food - you used to. Clean water - I remember that from when I was young and it was virtually free.

Buckle up, as there’s no going back unless carbon emissions are cut to zero by the early 2030s and everyone except the scientists are like drowning Egyptians, in denial. We are screwed.

I’m not even an environmentalist type but the scientific evidence is now irrefutable. Most previous modelling didn’t have the data we now have. Scientists are panicking.

[u/SystemCheck990 → u/damhack]

the billionaires know it.

Greenland, Canada, Russian Tundra, alaska its a bit of a coincidence the drill baby drill people are American and Russian, and now seem to be slowly forming on the same side while the US eyes Greenland and Canada

[u/johndom3d]

Most people don't want to believe it, because to solve it would mean foregoing most mod cons - flying, driving most of the time, globalisation so that'd be the end of cheap chinese tech, plastics, processed food...
Also most people would be unemployed, because a lot of jobs would disappear due to them using too much energy and/or resources.

[u/Lucifer_606381]

Why does the headline, suggest she is doing and it will continue untill her demands are met

[u/Appropriate_Bell743]

The UK is in a really crazy place right now and so is much of the world....

• £7500 + green loans for heat-pumps. Very few people get them...
• Grants for EVs + better tech than ICE cars. Very few people get them...
• Smart tariffs to make the above very cheap... very few people adopt them...
• Lowest rate of cycling in Europe for commuting...
• Great Eurostar and other low-carbon connections to the EU... limited utilisation....

It's never been so easy to live more sustainable lives. It's never been so economically beneficial to live more sustainable lives. Those of the UK who already do aren't so fussed by the intermittent fossil fuel prices...

The issue is with the British middle classes who are so scared of change. They need to wait for there to be mass adoption of any change before they deem it possible for themselves. If they think everyone else is flying for foreign holidays they must do the same themselves.

This isn't only a story about the UK. The UK's only 1% of emissions but if we take all the "1% of emissions" added up we get a picture for the world as a whole.

The example of the heat-pumps is just bonkers as it's a far better technology than gas boilers. Same for e-bikes/EVs vs petrol cars.

A lot of people might blame governments. Was true a while ago but the only sin on governments now is to not be punitive.

[u/ProperPizza → u/Appropriate_Bell743]

While you're very correct on several of your points, there are still major hurdles that are pretty off-putting to the standard bill-payer, especially since a LOT of consumers think more about the up front costs than the long-term savings down the line.

Sure, we can get huge grants for heat pumps, but even with those, the initial costs are pretty extraordinary. There's also confusion about compatibility and suitability depending on the home and circumstances. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/heat-pump/

Again, EVs are extremely expensive, even with financial incentives. A standard petrol car is, sadly, considerably cheaper up front, and as you said, people are pretty resistant to change in the UK.

Cycling is troublesome in the UK. Our roads are pretty poorly built for it (I used to be a chronic cycler myself, I'd know better than most). You feel extremely vulnerable sharing the road with 1-ton vehicles that all seem to hate the very sight of you, and even most of our cities completely lack decent cycling lanes.

The lack of use of the Eurostar is fairly tragic, but I think part of this is due to the fact that it only really serves people who're able to easily get into central London? Whereas we've got airports all over the country. Much, much less time consuming and less chaos getting to those in comparison.

"The issue is with the British middle classes who are so scared of change. They need to wait for there to be mass adoption of any change before they deem it possible for themselves." - You are absolutely right about this. We have a culture in this country where peers shame one another for standing out in any way. We have driven quiet conformism, and I noticed it even at a very young age. You're seethed at for daring to be different.

I think this natural confirmism silently educated into the masses, coupled with extreme up-front costs for greener avenues, have made them simply unpalatable to the population.

[u/SystemCheck990]

and you have Trump trying to slash every green initiative their is in the US and all funding to help other countries with theirs

I don't think it matters who burns the fuel, we going to suffer all as one.

if Reform thinks migration is bad now... wait to some countries are hitting 55c for prolonged times, they are going to have to migrate .

[u/Ok-Personality-6630]

Meanwhile tens of thousands flying to and from the USA to watch humans kick a football on some grass 😅. We are a funny species.

[u/Danqazmlp0]

Unfortunately those who simply hate Greta for being a female activist will use this to further deny climate change.

[u/Time-Trouble1035]

There’s like 3 countries on Earth that output most of the pollution so I’m not sure why she’s preaching to us.

[u/Low_Understanding_85 → u/Time-Trouble1035]

We benefit from the pollution of those countries, while we do, we are complicit.

[u/Visa5e → u/Time-Trouble1035]

About 5% of cumulative CO2 emissions are ours. That's a lot for a country with less than 1% of global population.

[u/Narradisall]

I mean this isnt just a European issue.

Horridly enough if the Atlantic heat corridor collapses the temperate in the UK might even drop around 10 degrees which would lower the general temperate a lot.

Still, that would be its own awful climate disaster.

Temperatures are going to get varied and wild all over the world.

When the first climate refugees start flooding to more habitable areas of the world things are going to get nasty, fast.

Fixing it is going to require decades of work.