Past climate in Kent
A changing climate is nothing new to Kent, as wider climatic
trends in the South East have already had an impact. For
instance:
- Between 1961 and 2006, average temperatures rose annually in
the UK, between 1.0°C and 1.7°C, in all 4 seasons. This increase
has tended to be largest in the South East
- Since the mid-20th century average sea levels have risen around
the South East coastline by about 1mm per year, a rate which has
increased in the 1990s and 2000s
- Over the past 45 years, the South East has experienced an
increase in the amount of winter rain that falls in heavy
downpours
- In summer, the region has already shown decreases in
rainfall.
These changes are in line with current UK-wide climatic trends
as shown in the United
Kingdom Climate Projections 2009 Science Report: Recent
Trends.
Extreme weather events around the UK have also become more
frequent in the past few decades and Kent has experienced its fair
share:
- The Great Storm of October 1987 recorded gusts of 103mph in
parts of Kent, driving a ferry ashore at Folkestone and capsizing a
ship at Dover
- Extensive and repeated winter flooding in 2000
- The heatwave in 2003 recorded temperatures of 38.5ºC at
Brogdale, near Faversham – the highest UK temperature since
records began
- The heatwave in July 2006 broke records for the highest average
temperature for the month of July.
Other more gradual changes have been recorded in Kent which
suggest that climate change is already having an impact on the
county. These include:
- Sea level rise at Sheerness
- Emergence dates for butterfly species (up to 20 days earlier in
the case of the Adonis Blue, symbol of the Kent Wildlife
Trust)
- Earlier arrival and breeding success of bird species like the
Hobby, which require a warmer climate.
These weather events, along with the impact they have had, can
be used to inform how we adapt to further climate change in the
future.
For details and further information on how to adapt your home to
such change, please see our ‘Preparing
for severe weather’ page.