UKCP case studies
Examples of how UKCP products are being used.
Case studies
The following are examples of how the UKCP products have been used by different organisations across the UK since its launch in 2018.
Bristol City Council Factsheets (PDF - 657kB)
In collaboration with Bristol City Council, the Met Office produced factsheets to provide an overview of Bristol’s past and future climate that could build a foundation of collective understanding within the council. They were then used to engage with a range of stakeholders to inform conversations and decision-making around planning and resilience/climate strategies.
Climate Change Impacts on Peak Flows (PDF - 701kB)
Climate allowances are available to Local planners and flood management authorities to support them in understanding the potential impacts of climate change when managing flood risk. The impacts of the latest update to the UK Climate Projections on this guidance was investigated by UKCEH.
The Climate Matching Tool (PDF - 617kB)
Forestry practitioners need to understand appropriate seed origins to enable the planting of species that are likely to be tolerant of future climate conditions. Forestry Research developed a tool using the latest UK Climate Projections to aid this process.
Waves within UKCP Marine (PDF - 446kB)
The UKCP18 Marine Report also includes information on how waves may change in the future. In collaboration with the Met Office, the National Oceangraphy Centre delivered data on future changes in waves to government stakeholders.
Demonstration projects
The demonstration projects were developed prior to the release of the latest UK Climate Projections. They were led by sector specialists and written for their sector. The summaries below describe how existing methods/risk assessments can still be used and where new methods need to be developed to exploit the opportunities that the new dataset brings. The sectors include the management of water resources, flood risk, coastal erosion risk, forestry as well as buildings design.
Assessing climate change risk in Yorkshire (PDF - 335kB )
Piloting new climate change projections with regional stakeholders in Yorkshire catchments. University of Leeds and Yorkshire Integrated Catchment Solutions Programme (iCASP).
Coastal cliff recession under climate change (PDF - 516kB)
How UKCP18 sea level rise data can be used to better understand increase in shoreline erosion (WSP).
Future surface water flood hazard risk (PDF - 227kB)
Using high-resolution sub-daily climate projections at the national scale. Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).
Thermal performance of buildings (PDF - 573kB)
Providing future weather files to building professionals to assess thermal comfort and energy performance. University of Exeter and the Chartered Institution of Building Service Engineers (CIBSE).
Forests for the future (PDF - 825kB)
Creating future tree growth and species suitability maps for foresters. Forest Research.
Water resources and drought planning (PDF - 1.3MB )
Future water resources and a bottom-up approach (HR Wallingford).