Energy and Climate Change

Welcome to Hampshire County Council's Energy and Climate Change pages.

Energy and climate change are inextricably linked.

These pages provide information on what climate change and energy security mean for Hampshire, and what the County Council is doing to tackle them both individually and in partnership. They are aimed at everyone who lives and/or works in Hampshire and anyone who has an interest in energy and climate change.

What does climate change mean for Hampshire?

Underlying temperatures are due to increase year on year. It is generally accepted that the UK will have hotter, drier summers and warmer wetter winters. Changes in rainfall patterns, sea level rise, and more extreme weather, are expected.

Hampshire is a large coastal (traversing approximately 230 miles) and predominantly rural county with many towns and villages; climate change is already having an impact on all of these environments and these changes are expected to increase.

The UK Climate Impacts Programme has developed climate change scenarios in the UK which tell us more about the likely impacts of climate change in Hampshire.

Expected changes in the climate may have major impacts on the built infrastructure of Hampshire, such as roads, sewers, railways and buildings, and could cause damage to trees, plants and crops. Shorter, more intense rainfall could also have an impact on flooding and recharging acquiters in the county. People’s health could be affected by high temperatures, higher pollen levels and more or different pests.

In the longer term it is likely that there will also be changes to where and how people live and work, and changes to the way we care for the elderly and children. The opportunities for tourism and for growing different crops (eg wine grapes, olives) in the county are likely to increase.