Developing national climate risk indicators of spatial and temporal variations in river water temperature for the UK

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The primary objective is to establish a comprehensive national-level assessment of spatio-temporal river water temperature as a climate risk indicator for potential drought events in the future. The ultimate goal is to derive practical outcomes to enhance the capacity of nations to effectively incorporate climate change adaptation measures into their respective national development frameworks (Mimura et al., 2015). The significance of climate risk indicators in UK policy formulation and adaptation was discussed in the "Sectoral Planning Guidelines for Climate Change Adaptation" (HM Government, 2022). It highlights that one of the key applications of indicators is to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of adaptation actions within various sectors. These indicators enable an evaluation of spatial and temporal changes in exposure level. Also, some of the primary objectives of the CCRA4 are to establish a new framework of indicators that facilitate the monitoring of investment decisions and the implementation of adaptation strategies. Additionally, it aims to evaluate the outcomes derived from these adaptation endeavours (HM Government, 2022).The significance of temperature is apparent, as it serves as a key determinant of water quality and availability (O'Connor et al., 2022). The novelty of this indicator lies in its scarcity within the context of the UK. Its application can be exemplified by other indicators that have been utilized by the UK Climate Change Committee to assess trends in:-Risk factors (hazard, vulnerability, and exposure)-Adaptation action (input and output)-Climate impacts across various sectors and administrative units (HM Government, 2022).Furthermore, the indicators serve as a key asset for adaptation, playing a significant role in the process of "monitoring to manage". Furthermore, they possess practical utility in:-Benchmarking current performance (over multiple decades, even reconstructed)-Evaluating the outcomes of climate actions-Communicating risks to diverse audiencesLastly, it is important to consider the portability and transferability of the methods to different regions or time periods. Therefore, it is possible that similar approaches could be utilized in other country that currently lack established national indicators.