A Met Office report stating that the UK’s extreme weather conditions are ‘the new normal’ highlights the importance of ensuring Britain’s homes can cope with both ends of the weather spectrum, says Actis
Actis cites research carried out by Loughborough University’s Building Energy Research Group, which looks at how the fabric of a building can help in the battle to ensure occupants remain cool during hot weather.
Loughborough University’s senior lecturer in healthy buildings, Dr Ben Roberts, writing on academic news website The Conversation, said that various passive measures, including installing insulation, will help homes stay cool in the summer.
“Combined with new regulations for overheating which limit the sun’s heat entering through windows, high levels of insulation and airtightness can be a positive thing for our buildings all year round,” he said.
How Actis products keep homes cool during periods of extreme weather
Architectural designer and technical manager at Actis insulation, Harsha Mistry, says some forms of insulation can make homes unbearably hot during heatwaves, but others, such as Actis’ reflective insulation blankets, insulating vapour control layers and insulating breather membranes, including its two-in-one Eolis HC, can actually keep them cool as they reflect around 94% of infrared radiation.
She explained: “In the winter, insulation minimises the need for active heating by addressing thermal efficiency directly within the building’s structure – essentially a fabric-first approach. Similarly, during the summer, the reflective properties of Actis insulation deflect solar heat rather than transferring it indoors.
“This keeps the interior naturally cooler and significantly reduces the energy required for active cooling via air-conditioning.”
Hot weather is here to stay
Met Office scientists say the climate of the 20th century is a thing of the past, with the hottest day of the year in the south of England now typically 4.5°C warmer than it was between 1961 and 1990.
The report confirmed that 2025 was the warmest year since records began in 1884 and projects that temperatures in the mid-forties could be reality for the UK by 2050 if global warming continues at its current pace.
Experts at Imperial College London, the Met Office and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine say more than 2,700 people may have died from heat-related causes in England and Wales during the May and June heatwaves.
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