Climate change is making it rain more, scientists say

Wetter weather than usual is having a big impact on farmers in the UK, say a farming union.

The National Farming Union (NFU) say the rainier weather could lead to some foods becoming harder to get, or more expensive to buy in shops.

Between October 2023 and March 2024, the UK had the second wettest winter on record.

Experts think this could happen more and more due to climate change.

Have you noticed more rain recently?

How does climate change make it rain more?

To understand why this is happening, we first have to know what the greenhouse effect is.

When we burn fossils fuels - things like coal, oil and gas - to create energy it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

This carbon dioxide traps the Sun's rays in the atmosphere, slowly heating the planet up.

This is known as the greenhouse effect.

Last year the planet's oceans hit their hottest average recorded temperature.

Rainfall

It was a very soggy winter - did you notice?

As the planet heats up, the ice on our oceans melts, putting fresh water into the salty sea.

This ice can come from giant icebergs in the Arctic or Antarctic. We've already seen a lot of evidence that the big ice sheets here are changing and moving as the Earth has warmed up.

Scientists say that higher temperatures can make the Earth's water cycle more intense. Water evaporates - which means it turns from a liquid into a gas - from the oceans into the air, where it sits in clouds and falls as rain.

When it's warmer, it's more likely for more water to evaporate, which means more rainfall.

Between October 2023 and March 2024, the rainfall was nearly 60% above the average for the past 10 years.

Why does more rain matter?

When it rains more, it can have a big impact on the planet.

Increased rain can damage animals' habitats, and it can also damage human's ones too, because of flooding.

Now, farmers are worried about how rain is affecting their crops.

Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London agreed with farmers' concerns, saying that wet weather means "flooding farms, cancelling football matches, and overflowing sewage systems."

"Immense pressure"

The World Weather Attribution study found that human-made climate change has made downpours 20% wetter.

The NFU - which is a union for farmers - said there is "immense pressure" on UK farm businesses to be able to grow enough food during the bad weather conditions.

When fields flood it can damage the crops that farmers have spent long months growing

Rachel Hallos is the Vice President of the NFU. She explained that although farmers are feeling the pressure now, there could be problems for people trying to buy food grown in the UK in the future.

The union have asked the government to create a plan to help farmers with the difficult weather conditions, as well as asking big supermarkets and shops in the UK to support British farmers.

In a statement earlier this month, the government explained that it understands that these weather conditions are out of farmers' control.

It says there's a fund available to help farmers, and that they have made adjustments for if farmers are being impacted by the weather.