A landmark year

2025 is shaping up to be another landmark year in the climate record. Globally it is on track to be the joint second warmest year ever measured, while the UK is likely to log its warmest year since records began.

For householders, that is not an abstract statistic, but a signal to rethink how homes are heated, cooled and protected from floods and storms through intelligent retrofit.

A year that confirms the trend

The global climate story in 2025 is one of persistence rather than surprise. The planet is not just warming in occasional spikes; it is settling into a consistently hotter state.

• From January to November 2025, the global average temperature has been around 1.48°C above the pre‑industrial baseline (1850–1900), tying it with 2023 as the second-warmest year on record.​
• This extraordinary warmth has occurred even though parts of the year were influenced by cooling La Niña conditions, which, in the past, would have been expected to pull temperatures down more strongly.​
• Record-high concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere mean the background warming signal now overwhelms many of the natural ups and downs of the climate system.​

Put simply, what used to be “extreme” is fast becoming normal, and every extra fraction of a degree increases the energy held in the climate system.​

The UK’s hottest year – and what it means

The UK is a clear example of how global averages translate into local realities.​

• With just days left in the year, the UK’s mean temperature for 2025 is on track to reach about 10.05°C, nudging past the previous record of 10.03°C set in 2022.​
• All of the UK’s warmest years have occurred in the last two decades, underlining that this is a structural shift in climate, not a one‑off anomaly.​
• The country has already seen swings between drought, heat and intense rainfall, driving wildfires, water stress and flood episodes within a single year.​

For households, that mix of hotter summers, milder but wetter winters and more energetic storms challenges the way homes were originally designed, often for a cooler, more predictable climate.​

Winters in a warming world

One of the oddities of climate change is that hotter years do not mean the end of winter; they mean more unstable winters.​

• Warmer oceans and land surfaces are adding energy and moisture to the atmosphere, which in turn disrupts large-scale patterns, like the jet stream, making weather systems slower, stickier and more prone to extremes.​
• The result is a patchwork of conditions: while global averages are exceptionally high, some regions can still see sharp cold anomalies, like those observed in parts of north-eastern Russia in late 2025.​
• Across Europe, autumn 2025 brought wetter-than-normal conditions to countries such as the UK, Ireland and Spain, while northern Italy and parts of southern Spain were relatively dry, hinting at a winter of irregular rainfall and storm tracks.​

This mix creates a double challenge for UK homes: they must stay comfortable during milder winters and heatwaves, yet remain robust against sudden cold snaps, heavy downpours and strong winds.​

Flood risk and shifting seasons

The UK is already seeing what a warmer, wetter world looks like.​

• Warmer air holds more moisture, increasing the likelihood of intense rainfall events that can overwhelm drains and rivers, particularly where soils are already saturated from wet autumns and winters.​
• The UK government has put flood resilience at the heart of climate adaptation strategies, with action plans emphasising both large-scale defences and property-level protection.​

Projections suggest that by mid-century, around one in four homes could face some level of flood risk, underscoring the need to build resilience into how we repair and improve existing housing.​

At the same time, traditional expectations of the seasons are breaking down: “winter weather” now includes unseasonal storms, uncomfortably warm spells and occasional sharp cold plunges, all layered onto a warmer baseline.​

Why retrofit is climate resilience

Against this backdrop, home retrofit is a vital, practical response to a changing climate.​

• Retrofit – upgrading an existing home’s fabric, systems and layout – is one of the fastest ways to cut emissions from heating, which is a major source of UK household carbon.​
• High-quality retrofit can reduce energy use in a typical UK home by 60–80%, through measures such as improved insulation, airtightness, efficient glazing, and switching from fossil fuel boilers to heat pumps.​
• These upgrades also improve comfort, enhance indoor air quality and build resilience to both heatwaves and cold spells, making homes healthier, as well as greener.​

Crucially, retrofit is also an opportunity to build in flood resilience and overheating protection at the same time, rather than treating each risk separately.​

Key retrofit measures for a changing climate

Homeowners planning work in the next few years can take a “whole‑house” approach that addresses energy efficiency, flood risk and summer comfort together.​

• Fabric first: Upgrading loft, cavity and solid wall insulation, fitting high-performance windows and improving airtightness reduces heat loss in winter and heat gain in summer, cutting bills and emissions.​
• Smarter heating: Replacing gas boilers with air-source or ground-source heat pumps, plus smart controls, takes advantage of a cleaner electricity grid, while maintaining stable indoor temperatures through variable winter conditions.​
• Ventilation and air quality: Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, or well-designed natural ventilation, helps manage moisture and indoor pollutants in better-insulated, more airtight homes.​
• Overheating protection: External shading, reflective roofing, well‑placed ventilation openings and night‑time cooling strategies reduce the risk of summer overheating, which is becoming a major health concern in UK housing.​
• Integrated flood resilience: Where homes sit in flood‑prone areas, property flood resilience (PFR) measures can be planned into retrofit projects, such as raised electrical sockets, waterproof floors and flood-resistant doors.​

Treating retrofit as an opportunity to upgrade both efficiency and resilience will pay dividends as the climate continues to change.​

Practical steps to futureproof a home

For householders wondering where to start, the path to a climate‑ready home does not have to be overwhelming.​

• Get a professional home energy assessment to understand current performance, including heat loss, moisture risks and any existing flood vulnerabilities.​
• Use recognised guides and standards, such as the LETI Climate Emergency Retrofit Guide and UK Green Building Council frameworks, to ensure measures are compatible and future‑proof.​
• If the property is in a flood‑risk area, align energy upgrades with the government’s FloodReady guidance so that any work to floors, walls or services also boosts flood resistance and speeds up recovery after an event.​
• Plan improvements as part of a long-term, whole‑house roadmap, even if they are delivered in stages, so that each step supports the next.​

In a world where 2025 is “only” the second-warmest year on record, the real story is that climate change is now woven into the fabric of daily life – including what it means to own, heat and protect a home.

Thoughtful retrofit is one of the most effective ways households can respond: cutting emissions today while building comfort and resilience for the winters – and summers – of tomorrow.​

Do stay safe and warm, and have a very excellent Festive Season. With kind regards - the PRL team.

Carl Dodd, Property Revolutions Ltd.