Rebecca Speare-Cole
Environment2 Jun 2026
UN scientists reveal when El Niño is likely to return this summer
The World Meteorological Organisation has warned countries to prepare for the natural phenomenon
Environment1 Jul 2025
Heatwave to peak with temperatures of up to 35C in likely hottest day of year
Tuesday could be the hottest day of the year so far as extreme heat warnings remain in place.
Environment
Firefighters urge Government to tax polluters to fund struggling services
With recent heatwaves, the Fire Brigades Union said a decade of funding cuts has left the service overstretched and chronically underfunded.
30 Jun 2025
Business News
JD Sports, M&S and Sainsbury’s to face shareholder pressure over low pay
As the high street retailers gear up for their AGMs, activists are calling for more transparency on pay.
29 Jun 2025
Business News27 Jun 2025
British billpayers saved £300m through energy flexibility in 2024, figures show
Savings were driven by lower contributions to infrastructure costs, reduced connection charges and the increased use of low-carbon energy sources.
UK27 Jun 2025
‘Devil’s Punch bowl’ in Surrey declared national nature reserve
The area inspired literary giants such as Arthur Conan Doyle and Alfred Lord Tennyson, who wrote Flower In The Crannied Wall in Waggoners Well
Environment
Number of hen harriers killed or missing at new high, RSPB warns
Between 2020 and 2024, there were 102 incidents of killing or missing birds recorded.
26 Jun 2025
Business News
Investors call on chemical firms to phase out toxic substances
It comes as officials, business leaders and scientists gather in Uruguay this week to discuss the next phase in the UN Global Framework on Chemicals.
26 Jun 2025
Business News
Government to support banks and large firms in setting out their climate plans
Ministers are seeking to help stimulate billions of pounds a year of private investment to deliver the UK clean energy superpower ambition.
25 Jun 2025
Business News
Officials warn pet owners about toxic chemicals found in fake medicines
Alan Wall, from Preston, said it was ‘heartbreaking’ to see his cat Smokey suffer after being treated with counterfeit medicine.
25 Jun 2025
Environment
Campaigners call for action on reusable packaging and cutting food waste
Experts found that adopting reusable packaging for 30% of goods in UK grocery retail could deliver millions in annual savings for producers.
24 Jun 2025
Environment
Nearly 600 heat-related deaths expected in UK heatwave, researchers estimate
Experts used real-time rapid analysis of the UK’s soaring temperatures to estimate excess mortality.
21 Jun 2025
Business News
Government will not be lenient with Thames Water creditors, suggests Reed
The company’s creditors have asked regulators to go easy over performance targets and fines for environmental failings.
19 Jun 2025
Environment
World now in ‘crunch time’ to avoid higher levels of warming, UN scientists warn
Drivers of climate change are ‘all moving in the wrong direction’, the team of international scientists said.
18 Jun 2025
Environment
Discarded clothes from UK brands found in protected Ghana wetlands – Greenpeace
The campaign group found clothes thrown away by British consumers on the internationally important wetland outside the capital Accra.
18 Jun 2025
Environment
MPs to reintroduce bill in name of girl, 9, who died in pollution-linked death
Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah became the first person to have air pollution listed as a cause of death following a landmark inquest in 2020.
18 Jun 2025
Politics
Independent water commission chair denies probe into reforms is ‘tinkering’
The largest review of the water sector since privatisation has come under criticism for not going far enough to ensure systemic change.
17 Jun 2025
Business News17 Jun 2025
Banks significantly increased fossil fuel financing in 2024, analysis finds
The annual Banking on Climate Chaos report found a shift in direction after fossil fuel financing had been decreasing over the previous four years.
Environment
Flood defences to receive £7.9bn investment over next decade
Ministers said the money will be spent on rolling out high-performance flood barriers as well as nature-based solutions such as wetland restoration.
16 Jun 2025
Environment
Singing cicadas brought back to UK from France after disappearing in 1990s
The first-of-its-kind project aims to re-establish populations of the insect in the New Forest.
13 Jun 2025
Environment
Yorkshire in drought with low water levels in reservoirs after dry spring
The county is the latest in the north of England to see its status moved to ‘drought’ after the driest spring for 132 years.
12 Jun 2025