Monday 9th November 2026, BBC One’s Panorama “Fire and Floods: Our Extreme Weather”
tackled the climate crisis, featuring Chris Packham, Prof Hayley Fowler and Prof Nathalie Seddon in a segment on the National Emergency Briefing.
Justin Rowlatt is one of the BBC’s most committed voices on climate, and his film brings the UK’s extreme weather home, from wildfires and heat deaths to towns that can no longer get flood insurance. Huge thanks to him and the Panorama team.
But does the episode go far enough? It does a great job of connecting the dots for people who have not yet grasped the threat posed by climate change – but some major issues are not mentioned:
- The developing super El Niño, and what it could mean for harvests and food prices.
- The climate and nature risks behind official advice to keep emergency supplies of food and water at home.
- The government’s own partially-suppressed national security assessment on global ecosystems, which warns that every critical ecosystem is on a pathway to collapse, and that this threatens UK national security and prosperity.
- The possibility of transforming our economy significantly faster, as this nation has done before at times of great crisis.
A must Watch. Available for 11 months
Why this matters
It is first and foremost the government’s job to level with the public about these risks. Its failure to do so has left a vacuum, which makes the BBC’s role all the more important. The BBC is one of the few institutions with the reach and remit to level with the public about the climate and nature crisis.
On 16 November 2026, Parliament will debate the call for the government to hold an emergency briefing to the nation. If you haven’t already, please help turn this into a major media moment by asking your MP to attend.