Climate News Tracker analysed how 25 UK TV and radio programmes covered the Climate Change Committee’s Well Adapted UK report, which warned that climate inaction could cost the UK economy up to £260bn a year by mid-century.

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

29 May 2026

Ten of the 25 programmes monitored by Climate News Tracker covered the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) Well Adapted UK report on the day it was published. Coverage was strong during breakfast, morning, daytime, and early evening programmes, but none after 8pm picked up the story.

The Climate Change Committee’s Well Adapted UK report, published on 20 May 2026, warned that by 2050, 92% of homes could overheat, peak river flows could rise by up to 45%, and water supply shortfalls could exceed five billion litres per day. It called for a national maximum workplace temperature and widespread air conditioning in schools, hospitals and care homes.

The report described Britain as a country “built for a climate that no longer exists”. The committee called for investment of around £11bn a year to address the three biggest climate risks, warning that inaction could cost the UK economy between £60bn and £260bn annually by mid-century.

Climate News Tracker analysed coverage of the report across 25 programmes spanning the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky News on the day of publication.

Key Findings:

• Ten of the 25 programmes monitored covered the report on the day of publication, while 15 gave it no coverage at all.
• Where programmes did cover the report, most did so substantively through full packages, interviews with senior CCC figures and expert comment from outside the committee.
• Coverage was strongest in the morning, with three of the four breakfast programmes covering the story, but fell away through the day. None of the eight programmes past 8pm covered the report.

Who covered the report?

Of the ten programmes that covered the report, eight gave it substantive treatment through either full packages or dedicated segments. Two made only passing references. Fifteen programmes gave it no coverage at all.

Most substantive coverage came through full packages featuring live reporting, specialist climate and science correspondents, or interviews with senior CCC figures.

Climate, science and weather correspondents accounted for nearly half of all coverage of the report.

Who was interviewed about the report?

Of the eight named guests who appeared across all coverage of the report, three were climate or adaptation specialists.

The CCC was the most represented voice, with Baroness Brown appearing on two programmes and chief executive Emma Pinchbeck on one.

On Good Morning Britain, reporter Jay Akbar’s package combined Pinchbeck’s comments with vox pops and interview clips from Martin Lines of the Nature Friendly Farming Network. Brown told BBC Radio 4’s Today that heat was “the most deadly of the risks that climate change is bringing to us” and pushed back on concerns about business costs.

Jess Ralston of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit appeared on World at One, warning of thousands of heat-related deaths per year by the 2030s and stressing that emissions cuts remained essential because they made adaptation cheaper.

Other guests approached the report from different perspectives. Historian Peter Frankopan, interviewed on PM, drew on examples from ancient Egypt and the Maya civilisation to argue that climate shocks have destabilised societies throughout history.

Nigel Manning of Heronhill Air Conditioning and Councillor Mike Stanton of the Somerset Rivers Authority both appeared in Ruth Liptrot’s 5 News at 5 package. Manning argued that air conditioning had shifted from a luxury to a necessity, while Stanton, speaking beside a flood prone river in Somerset, said he was less worried for himself at 80 than for his grandchildren.

Food policy expert Henry Dimbleby appeared on Channel 4 News to discuss food prices and food security, referencing the report’s suggestion of targeted support for low income households during periods of high food inflation. BBC Breakfast also featured a woman who had been heavily pregnant during the 2022 heatwave.

Jeremy Vine was the only programme to feature an unchallenged sceptical response to the report’s recommendations. Businesswoman Sylvia Tidy Harris argued that the UK simply needed to “get used to being a hot country” and dismissed proposals for air conditioning in care homes as unrealistic and expensive.

Weather presenters wove the report into their forecasts

Three programmes included references to the report by weather presenters, though not always within the forecast itself.

On Good Morning Britain, Laura Tobin used the report as a springboard to explain how the definition of a heatwave has shifted since the 1990s, when 25C across most of the UK would have qualified. She said higher temperatures across larger areas are now needed to meet the threshold and that heatwaves are becoming more frequent and prolonged.

5 News at 5 interviewed Clare Nasir ahead of her forecast rather than confining discussion to the weather segment itself. She described the report as timely and grounded in robust climate science, referenced the 2022 heatwave in which 2,800 people died, and noted that a 40C summer could become a 50:50 chance within 12 years.

Alex Beresford on ITV Evening News referenced the report while reporting live from the Chelsea Flower Show on climate resilient gardens, mentioning proposals for a maximum workplace temperature and a rescheduled school year to avoid exams during the hottest months.

How did coverage evolve through the day?

Coverage was strongest in the morning and remained relatively consistent through to the early evening before falling away sharply after 8pm.

Three of the four breakfast programmes, BBC Breakfast, Today and Good Morning Britain, covered the story substantively. Both daytime programmes, Jeremy Vine and Sky News Today, covered the report, but lunchtime proved a weak point, with BBC News at One and ITV Lunchtime News both ignoring the story despite World at One covering it in depth.

Strengths and gaps in the coverage

Where broadcasters did cover the report, they generally covered it well. Most programmes devoted full packages to the findings, relied on credible expert voices from inside and outside the CCC, and conveyed the scale of the risks with reasonable accuracy.

The use of weather presenters as informed commentators was strong, with Laura Tobin and Clare Nasir adding scientific context that went well beyond the headlines.

But after 8pm, the story vanished entirely from the news agenda entirely.

The CCC itself stressed that the report was not intended as a doom and gloom warning. Baroness Brown described it as carrying “a message of hope”, arguing that “the solutions already exist, and proven technologies are available now”.

That those solutions found space in breakfast, daytime and early evening coverage is encouraging. But for a report arguing that climate adaptation is central to the UK’s food, energy and economic security, and warning that climate inaction could cost the economy up to £260bn annually by mid-century, the complete absence of late evening coverage was a significant missed opportunity.

Methodology

Climate News Tracker manually reviewed 25 programmes broadcast across the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky News on 20 May 2026, the day the Climate Change Committee published its Well Adapted UK report.

Each programme was reviewed in full and classified according to whether it gave the report substantive coverage, a passing mention, or no coverage at all.

A substantive story was defined as one in which the report was the primary subject of the item; it would not exist without it. A substantive segment was defined as one in which the report was a significant theme explored in meaningful detail, but sat alongside other topics or drivers. A passing mention was defined as a brief, incidental reference that would not materially change the item if removed.

Speakers and guests were identified through manual review of transcripts and on-screen captions.

Programmes Considered

The 25 programmes reviewed are listed below, grouped by broadcast slot:

Breakfast (6am): BBC Breakfast, Today, Good Morning Britain, Sky Breakfast
Morning Daytime: Jeremy Vine, Sky News Today.
Lunchtime (12–2pm): BBC News at One, WATO, ITV Lunchtime News.
Early Evening (5–8pm) PM, 5 News at 5, Sky Newshour, BBC News at Six, Six O’Clock, ITV Evening News, Channel 4 News, The Cathy Newman Show.
Late Evening (8pm+): UK Tonight, The World with Yalda Hakim, Peston, BBC News at Ten, The World Tonight, Newsnight, ITV News at Ten, The Wrap.