Climate News Tracker’s Q3 analysis finds that climate-related terms appeared in nearly half of monitored UK TV and radio news programmes in August, before falling in September. Meanwhile, rising coverage of energy costs was not matched by an increase in mentions of renewable energy.

by Rosie Frost (Journalism Insights Analyst), Alina Sandauer (Content Analyst), Dr Lissa O’Reilly (Content Analyst), Sam Cardwell (Content Analyst) & Odyssée Ferrillo (Content Analyst)

23 October 2026

Climate change became a more prominent feature of UK television and radio news during the summer heatwaves, but that increase was short-lived, new quarterly analysis by Climate News Tracker shows.

In August, 48% of monitored news programmes mentioned at least one climate-related keyword, the highest monthly proportion recorded in 2026. By September, that figure had fallen to 36%, below July’s 41%.

Public concern followed a different pattern. The proportion of adults in Great Britain identifying climate change and the environment as an important issue facing the UK rose to 62% in August and remained at 60% in September, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The findings reveal a contrast between news coverage that rose during extreme weather and public concern that remained high after the heatwaves had passed.

The analysis also found a second divergence.

As mentions of inflation rose to 40% of programmes in September, mentions of renewable energy remained at 4%, and mentions of net zero declined. The figures suggest that greater attention to energy costs was not accompanied by a broader increase in references to the energy transition.

CNT analysed keyword mentions across 28 television and radio news programmes from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky. The research tracks the proportion of programmes mentioning particular topics, rather than the amount of airtime devoted to them, and compares those findings with ONS data on public concern.

How much climate coverage was there on UK TV and radio news in Q3 2026?

Climate-related terms appeared in 41% of monitored programmes in July, rising to 48% in August before falling to 36% in September. August was the highest monthly level recorded so far in 2026.

The increase coincided with the UK’s warmest summer on record and a series of heatwaves that brought extreme temperatures and their consequences into the news.

Public concern did not follow the same pattern. ONS data show that the share of adults who identified climate change and the environment as an important issue rose from 53% in June to 59% in July and 62% in August, then eased slightly to 60% in September.

The gap between coverage and concern narrowed to 14 points in August, then widened to 24 points in September.

These figures measure different things. Climate-related mentions declined as the immediate heatwave story receded, while public concern remained close to its summer peak.

What drove the rise in climate coverage in August 2026?

The overall climate figure is based on five keywords: “climate change”, “extreme weather”, “net zero”, “carbon” and “renewable energy”. A programme counts towards the total if it mentions at least one of them.

The clearest increases in August were mentions of “climate change” and “extreme weather”.

References to “climate change” rose from 26% of programmes in July to 37% in August, before falling to 25% in September. Mentions of “extreme weather” increased from 14% to 18%, then fell to 7%.

Other climate-related terms followed a different pattern. Mentions of “net zero” reached their 2026 high of 16% in July, before declining to 11% in August and 9% in September. Mentions of “carbon” remained between 6% and 9%, while “renewable energy” stayed between 4% and 5%.

The figures suggest a distinction between climate mentions prompted by events and mentions of longer-term policy responses or the energy transition.

How did climate coverage change during the summer 2026 heatwaves?

The August increase in climate coverage coincided with the UK’s warmest summer on record and the fifth heatwave of the year, which peaked on 13 August, when temperatures reached 38.2°C.

The effects of extreme weather were widely felt. ONS research covering July to September found that 85% of adults said they felt climate change had affected them in some way in the previous 12 months. Heatwaves were the most commonly reported impact, followed by drought and wildfires.

Yet the increase in climate-related news mentions did not last. In September, the proportion of programmes mentioning climate-related terms fell to 36%, below July’s 41%, despite public concern remaining at 60%.

This follows the pattern we saw in Q2, when climate-related mentions rose during heatwaves and fell as temperatures eased.

Did coverage of rising energy bills include the energy transition?

Coverage of the economy and cost of living increased in September, but renewable energy mentions remained low throughout Q3. Climate News Tracker’s findings suggest that reporting on household finances gained prominence without a corresponding increase in coverage of the energy transition.

Mentions of “energy bills” appeared in 15% of programmes in August and 19% in September. Mentions of “renewable energy” remained at 4% in both months, having stood at 5% in July. Mentions of “net zero” fell from 16% of programmes in July to 11% in August and 9% in September.

Economy coverage followed a different pattern, falling from 70% of programmes in July to 62% in August before rising to 81% in September. Mentions of “the Budget” reached 33% of programmes in September, alongside “taxes” at 36% and “the Chancellor” at 39%, ahead of the Autumn Budget on 28 October.

Cost of living coverage fell from 54% of programmes in July to 46% in August, then rose to 64% in September. ONS data show that public concern about the cost of living remained between 88% and 89%, substantially above its level of news coverage. Mentions of “inflation” rose from 19% of programmes in August to 40% in September, while mentions of “cost of living” increased from 31% to 42%.

These changes coincided with rising energy costs. Ofgem’s price cap increased by 13% on 1 July, adding £221 to the average annual household bill. The ONS reported that gas prices rose by 14.7% in July 2026, the largest monthly increase since October 2022. Annual CPI inflation increased from 2.6% in June to 2.9% in July and 3.1% in August. On 26 August, Ofgem announced a further 4% increase in the price cap for October to December.

These developments provide context for the increased coverage of inflation, household bills and the economy, but the keyword data alone cannot establish exactly which events or stories drove the changes.

Renewable energy followed a different pattern. Despite the prominence of energy costs, mentions of renewable energy did not increase, while mentions of net zero declined. A similar pattern appeared in March, when mentions of “energy bills” reached 43% of programmes and renewable energy mentions reached their 2026 high of 6%. This suggests that coverage of energy costs and coverage of the energy transition did not necessarily move together.

What else dominated the news agenda in Q3?

Climate change was competing for attention with several other major issues.

Mentions of immigration rose from 40% of programmes in July to 62% in September, while international conflict appeared in between 88% and 94% of programmes throughout the quarter.

Crime remained one of the most frequently mentioned topics, appearing in more than nine in ten programmes each month. NHS mentions were relatively stable, ranging from 64% to 68%.

These figures provide context for the changing news agenda, although the keyword analysis cannot establish whether increased attention to one topic directly displaced coverage of another.

What does this quarter tell us about climate change in the news?

For audiences relying on TV and radio, climate coverage in Q3 came largely through the summer heat, reaching a peak in August.

The quarter also revealed a contrast between the attention given to household energy costs and references to the energy transition.

More mentions of climate change during extreme weather did not lead to more mentions of longer-term issues such as net zero or renewable energy. Keyword data also cannot show whether, or how well, programmes explained the connection between extreme weather and those issues.

As in Q1 and Q2, climate-related mentions rose when an event put climate on the news agenda and fell back once it passed, irrespective of public concern.

How does Climate News Tracker measure news coverage?

Climate News Tracker searches transcripts of 28 flagship TV and radio news programmes from the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, ITV and Sky for keywords related to seven topics.

A programme counts towards a topic if it mentions at least one of that topic’s keywords. A programme can count towards more than one topic, and towards more than one keyword within a topic. Each topic’s overall figure can be broken down by keyword to show which terms drove changes in coverage.

These are programme-level mentions, not a measurement of airtime given or quality.

Coverage is compared with public concern data from the ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, which asks adults in Great Britain which issues they think are important facing the UK. Coverage is averaged across each ONS survey period, which runs for around four weeks each month.

Monthly public concern figures are taken from table 13 of the ONS personal well-being and loneliness dataset, 2 to 27 September 2026 edition. Figures on the impacts of climate change cover 1 July to 27 September 2026 and are taken from the ONS bulletin on attitudes to climate change and environmental issues, published on 16 October 2026.

Each month, a sample of 20 matched programmes per topic is checked manually to estimate the share of false positives, where a keyword appears without the programme covering the topic, for example in an advert, a programme trail or an unrelated context. False positives identified in the sample are not removed from the published figures, which are unadjusted keyword counts. In Q3, the estimated false-positive rate for climate was 20% in July and 5% in August and September.

This analysis covers July, August and September 2026. All percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.

For more detail on the programmes monitored, the keywords tracked for each topic and how accuracy is checked, see the Climate News Tracker methodology.