Highlands' wildfire is just one sign that Scotland must prepare for a very different climate

So the wildfires raging in the Highlands and other parts of the UK are likely just a taste of what is to come. After a major blaze broke out near the RSPB’s Loch Garden nature reserve in the Cairngorms, staff and volunteers joined the emergency services and others in attempting to bring it under control.

But a spokesperson for the charity complained: “We have no helicopter support, as we believe they are all deployed to England and Wales fighting wildfires down there. This is critical and we need it urgently to bring the fire under control.”

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Floods, fires and storms

While the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has been increasing its wildfire-fighting capabilities, more will be needed as the threat increases. And this is by no means the only form of ‘adaptation’ to our new climate that will be necessary, with a myriad of effects on farming, hospitals designed for a cooler climate, homes built on flood plains, and more.

A report published last month about the progress in implementing the ‘Scottish National Adaptation Plan’ noted that “increasing floods, wildfires, water shortages, coastal erosion and extreme weather events such as storms are disrupting daily life with growing frequency and severity”.

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“Scotland has much to be proud of in its adaptation efforts – and much more still to do, at a faster pace than we have previously achieved, to meet the scale of the challenge ahead,” it added, noting that a quarter of public bodies had not undertaken any “climate risk assessment at all” by last year. As an example of the size of that challenge, a plan has been drawn up “to ensure Scotland’s trunk roads... continue to support safe travel”.

We must redouble our efforts to decarbonise – while, vitally, safeguarding economic growth – but also get ready for what may well be troubled times ahead.