October 2023: a research collaboration between Round Our Way and ECIU showed that the ingredients for a home made chicken tikka masala soared by 37% in just two years due to the impact of climate change on food production.

The research found that extreme weather home and abroad, like floods and heatwaves, has driven up the cost of curry ingredients. Essentials hit include tomatoes, peppers, onions, rice and cooking oil. For example: drought in 2022 reduced UK onion yields by 30%, extreme weather in North Africa and Southern Europe in early 2023 led to shortages and price increases for tomatoes and peppers, and unpredictable weather is threatening supplies of rice in south and south-east Asia including in India, who banned exports of basmati rice in July after damage to crops from heavy rain. In addition, rising gas prices are affecting chicken, beer, butter and other dairy products.

August 2023: Polling commissioned by Round Our Way showed that 61% of Britons think the recent European heatwaves will make food prices worse in Britain. The polling also showed that 61% of people think that politicians should be doing all they can to stop extreme weather from getting worse; and, that 74% of people think that climate change is contributing to record high temperatures in Europe.

Our poll* came as a new report from Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) showed that in 2022 just over a quarter of UK food imports – 9.8 billion kilograms, worth just over £16 billion – came from the wildfire-hit Mediterranean region, most of which was staple fresh produce like fruit and vegetables.

June 2023: Round Our Way published a new report examining the impact of climate-induced heatwaves on our NHS, the patients who rely on its services and the staff who work in it.

It found that overheating incidents have doubled at NHS sites including hospital wards and surgeries in the last five years. Climate change driven heatwaves are increasingly leading to cancelled operations, staff shortages and even loss of medicine.

April 2023: Round Our Way commissioned research revealed that in 2022 Slough and other British towns were on average as hot as parts of Portugal were between 1990 and 2020.

With the UK experiencing sweltering heat last summer, we worked with a French academic, Thibault Laconde, from Callendar Climate Intelligence to demonstrate that the country’s temperatures “moved” 205 miles (330 km) south on average.

March/April 2023: in early Spring we revealed England’s top 10 flooded NHS trusts.

Our research found that between April 2021 and March 2022 there were 176 flooding incidents at NHS sites, primarily causing disruption at General Acute Hospitals, which provide inpatient medical care, surgery and services for acute medical conditions or injuries.

January/February 2023: we launched research highlighting the shocking impact of 2022’s heatwave, and people’s fears if this happens again in 2023. Nearly 3,000 people in England alone lost their lives due to the heatwave last summer, and we found that 65% worried about older people dying in a heatwave this year.

The research was profiled by numerous local and regional newspapers, radio stations and TV news reports across England and Wales.