Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Thames Water plans to restart desalination plant – after drought has ended

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 15:08:49 +0000

Utility company’s plant, which has only run five times, now has an estimated total cost of £500m

Thames Water is preparing the UK’s only desalination plant to restart operations later this year – but it will not be ready until the winter, long after the current drought is likely to have passed.

The utility company said that it was hoping to start operating its plant in Beckton, east London, “by the end of the year”, in order to help build up reservoir supplies over the winter for next summer.

Iberian orca known for ramming boats seen with suspected gunshot wounds

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 15:07:10 +0000

Marine conservationist says deliberate attack would be ‘act of extreme cruelty’ against endangered population

Spanish officials have launched an investigation after the matriarch of an orca pod known for jostling and ramming boats off the Iberian Peninsula was spotted with wounds suggesting she had been shot by a pellet gun.

The Great Barrier Reef isn’t dead yet. According to News Corp that makes climate science a ‘pseudo-religion’ | Temperature Check

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 15:00:32 +0000

‘High coral cover is evidence of recovery and resilience, not evidence that the disturbances causing mortality didn’t happen,’ scientist says

Burnham temporarily bans disposable barbecue sales in ‘tinderbox’ Britain

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:31:13 +0000

PM urges people not to risk lives and homes by starting fires as military brought in to help deal with wildfires

UK politics live – latest updates

Downing Street has issued a temporary GB-wide ban on the sale of disposable barbecue and brought in the military to help deal with wildfires as Andy Burnham urged people not to risk lives in “tinderbox” Britain this weekend.

Andy Burnham moves to cut new EV sales targets

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 13:25:16 +0000

Possible cut from 80% down to as little as 50% could add millions of tonnes of CO2 to emissions and comes amid UK heatwaves

Andy Burnham’s government has said it will look at cutting electric vehicle sales targets, in proposals that could add millions of tonnes a year to the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions.

Running dry: drought-hit UK sporting venues and parched pitches – in pictures

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 10:45:56 +0000

With the UK experiencing the driest summer on record, we look at how the weather is affecting the pitches and courses across the country

‘They do look majestic’: tears and pride as first white storks set free in Cornwall

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 08:00:21 +0000

Twenty-one birds released on Bodmin Moor where it is hoped they will one day return to produce their own young

They took a little coaxing at first – after all, they had got used to a safe, comfortable aviary tucked away in woodland on the edge of Bodmin Moor. But after a few minutes, the birds stepped out into freedom and the bolder ones were soon soaring into the blue, the first white storks to be released into the wilds of Cornwall.

How can we talk about this extreme weather now that it’s a battleground in the culture wars? | Andy Beckett

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 07:00:21 +0000

Weather forecasts once gave Britons something safe to chat about. Not any more, and that’s a problem for the experts – indeed, for all of us

Bird flu is a huge disaster and it’s normal to find it distressing and sad. How can we deal with this grief? | First Dog on the Moon

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 06:14:56 +0000

Firstly you can just grieve – it’s not your fault because you used a plastic straw that one time

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Searches for UK homes with air conditioning more than double

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 05:00:20 +0000

Most owners would consider installing aircon as heatwaves lead buyers to focus on ability to stay cool, Rightmove says

Searches for homes for sale in the UK with air conditioning have more than doubled this summer as heatwaves push staying cool up the list of priorities for homebuyers, alongside nearness to good schools and transport links.