Londoners should be worried about Hurricane Milton. 

Like the rest of the world, we witnessed updates of Hurricane Milton sweep across our social media feeds. I know I’d become invested in following the lives of the people living this reality. Their narrow choices seemed overwhelmingly unfair; swiftly pack your life away into your car and evacuate, or choose to wait out the destruction and risk your life. 

And while, yes, the hurricane wasn’t the highest classification - Category 5 - when it reached land, nor as devastating as meteorologists’ predictions, it was still damaging. In its aftermath, at least 17 people are dead, many buildings have been destroyed and there are billions in insured losses. Lives have been heavily affected.

But take it from American Governor Ron DeSantis, who proclaimed that the “worst-case scenario” had been avoided. 

Essentially, if it wasn’t for nature’s intervention, Hurricane Milton would have been catastrophic, or at least far worse

From across the pond, in London, it can be difficult to conceptualise just how fatal a hurricane can be. This is partially because hurricanes can’t form at the UK’s latitudes; they need very high sea temperatures to form and are, therefore, a tropical feature. It seems unlikely that we’ll ever experience a hurricane.

Moreover, with our ever-cold and rainy weather, the implications of Hurricane Milton aren’t as glaringly obvious. Climate change plays a major role in recurring extreme weather events. In this instance, global warming directly fueled the strength of the hurricane through the heat of the ocean. With the UK’s northern location, we’re lucky to not encounter the worst of extreme weather, like cyclones and tornadoes. 

But our distance and lack of impact doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be worried. 

For one, we can, unfortunately, still experience the extratropical remnants of hurricanes, here in the UK. In 1957, Hurricane Carrie delivered acute flooding that resulted in casualties. On top of that, remnants of hurricanes can generally cause intense winds and tides. 

Furthermore, Hurricane Milton is just a symptom of a much larger problem that is global warming, which affects the entire world. With climate change becoming more prevalent, everyone can expect more extreme, recurring climates. 

Here in London, this means we could expect increasing amounts of floods, droughts, prolonged heat waves and severe storms. 

So, while Americans reel from the shock and damage of Hurricane Milton, understand that this is a universal problem. It’s important to recognise the intensifying environmental undertones of this event and, in turn, work towards a safer planet.