Peterborough · September 2026 · Neutral report · Green Party–researched
Preparing Peterborough for extreme weather
The City Council is consulting on its first Climate Adaptation Plan — how the city prepares for flooding, extreme heat and drought. This report explains the draft plan, assesses it, and sets out what residents and organisations can ask for before the consultation closes on 19 October 2026.
Act now — consultation open
The consultation runs 7 September to 19 October 2026. It is an online survey (complete it here), plus videos and polls the council is releasing through the consultation. The draft plan is on the council's engagement hub, which links the full draft for reading. See Have your say for guidance.
Why this matters now
Peterborough declared a climate emergency in 2019, but has never had an adaptation plan — only a strategy for cutting emissions (Roadmap to Net Zero, adopted December 2024). The draft adaptation plan, written by consultants SLR with a £100,000 Shared Prosperity Fund grant, is the first attempt to plan for the climate the city can no longer avoid.
Residents do not need to be told this is abstract. Summer 2026 was the UK's hottest on record; Peterborough saw record June heat (36.7 °C on 26 June at a local station), a major peat wildfire at Holme Fen from August, Anglian Water's first hosepipe ban in a decade, and then flooding as the drought broke. The council's consultation page says the plan responds to hazards the city "has experienced in recent months".
The risks the draft plan quantifies
Under a high-warming scenario (SSP5-8.5), compared with 2005, the draft projects by 2040:
| Indicator | Today (2005 baseline) | 2040 |
|---|---|---|
| Heatwave days per year | 14.4 | ~32 (+17 more per year) |
| Days above 30 °C per year | 1.9 | ~4.1 |
| Rain in an extreme 48-hour event | 93 mm | ~8% more |
| Likelihood of extreme 3-month dryness | 0.56% | ~3.5 times higher |
By 2080 the same scenario shows ~78 more heatwave days a year and ~11 days above 30 °C. The plan plans against the precautionary high-warming case — a defensible choice, discussed in the draft plan and assessment sections.
The four goals under consultation
- Protect People — emergency preparedness and support for vulnerable residents during extreme weather.
- Safeguard Infrastructure — healthcare, social care, education, housing, transport, energy and water systems.
- Enhance Natural Systems — green infrastructure, woodlands, wetlands: biodiversity, flood risk, drought resilience, natural cooling.
- Promote Collaboration — the council convening residents, businesses, utilities and public agencies.
The draft also says the plan's vision will be written from consultation responses — so the consultation genuinely can shape the final document, not just comment on it.
Report contents
Read in order, or jump to the section you need- The draft plan — what it proposes for flooding, heat and drought, and how it would be governed.
- Assessment — what is strong in the draft, and the weaknesses that matter (funding, policy teeth, existing homes, water, consultation reach).
- Recommendations — what residents and groups can ask the council to strengthen, grouped by subject.
- Have your say — the survey explained, tips for your response, and local organisations worth naming.
A note on method and sources
This report was researched in September 2026 from primary sources: the draft plan itself, council committee papers and web pages, government and regulator publications (Climate Change Committee, Ofwat, Environment Agency), official Green Party of England and Wales policy, and local organisations' own materials. Findings are hyperlinked to their sources inline. Where a claim is uncertain or could not be verified, the text says so. The report takes a Green Party perspective on policy but is written in neutral, report style: criticism and suggestions are made where the evidence supports them.