Tom Meredith, senior corporate development manager, SEFE Energy looks at how costs have changed as the climate heats up.
In June 2026, England recorded a new minimum temperature record for the month at just over 23-degrees, which is significant because the Met Office categorises any day where the average daily temperature is above 22-degrees as an ‘active cooling day’ – used to indicate increased energy demand from cooling.
For businesses with temperature-sensitive products, energy-intensive operations and large physical workforces, it is sinking in that cooling is likely to become a larger line item in energy bills in the coming years. UK summer temperatures could reach the mid-forties by 2050; well above the 34-degrees at which workers can lose up to 50% of their capacity. Businesses will therefore need to invest more in heat management to keep their staff safe, happy and productive.
That requires treating extreme heat as a predictable operational risk rather than an exceptional event; managers who understand that risk, adopt new measures and adapt processes in response will be best placed to handle the heat effectively and efficiently.
Data-driven risk mapping
The first step is to understand where heat is likely to create pressure. Smart meter and energy monitoring systems data from previous summers will help managers see where demand for air conditioning or cooling, refrigeration and ventilation equipment spiked.
That should help identify the systems that are most exposed and can inform risk mapping for critical operations, from stock storage and production lines to customer-facing operations such as retail sites.
Facilities managers can then work with other business functions to determine the steps that must be taken to mitigate the high-priority risks and decide how to protect essential functions at a site if a business continuity plan were enacted.
Stress testing new measures
By supplementing energy data with regular testing of existing cooling assets, managers can achieve a picture of overall operational resilience. That will allow them to identify where improvements to insulation and ventilation can be made and address any weaknesses in existing cooling capabilities, which should be carried out well in advance of warmer months.
Energy usage spikes can also inform adaptations to processes that shift energy-intensive activity to cooler parts of the day. For example, a retailer may decide to close a shop in the early afternoon during peak heat, but open later in the evening when there is less need for energy intensive cooling. Recent research drew on mobile network data to track consumer behaviour changes in Spain – where extreme heat has long been a challenge – and found older people were 20% less mobile on hot afternoons, reducing travel and other activities. These findings have lessons for the UK, which may increasingly see the same trends. To make a fully informed decision about their facilities retailers can draw on energy usage data during summer months and cross-reference this with other factors, such as footfall at different times of the day, to decide on the best adaptation strategy.
Staying cool for longer
The businesses well-equipped to handle the heat will be ones that analyse how their sites and systems respond to hot weather, map risks to inform business continuity planning and subsequently invest in additional cooling or adaptation strategies. The managers that make informed decisions early are less likely to make costly, reactive decisions when the next heatwave comes around.