The UK’s historic canals provide an increasingly valuable role in cooling the UK’s cities while providing water security and flood protection, a report has found.
According to the Canal & River Trust, which is responsible for 2,000 miles of waterways, urban canals alone reduced the nearby ambient temperature by around 2°C during 2022’s summer heatwaves. Meanwhile, canal embankments and reservoirs helped to provide additional flood protection for homes and businesses.
The organisation warned that UK canals are showing their age, and the network suffered an estimated £10m worth of storm damage in the 2023/24 winter. It is in the process of carrying out 150 “critical maintenance and conservation” projects that will help to future-proof canal infrastructure, but it called for more investment and public support to see that works can continue in a timely fashion.
The canals are also playing a role in helping to maintain some of the UK’s critically depleted biodiversity – the country is considered...