The Somerset floods of 2014 are often used as a case study in GCSE geography as their impact was so severe and long lasting. The authors witnessed the floods, documenting the impact and response. Over 300 images are included in the book, many of which could be used in lessons to prompt students to think about how different people were affected. The strength of this book is the way it connects the reader with the lives of different people who experienced the flood in different ways, which will bring the case study alive for learners. It recognises the importance of local people in the response and how others supported them from across the country. An accessible and interesting read for teachers as well as A-level and GCSE students.

This book has a page for every day of the year, giving weather statistics and stories about the weather on that day. It could be used to drop fascinating weather facts into lessons or to explore themes of weather hazards across time. Hazard events include storms, freak weather and heatwaves, with the Great Stink of London, the 1987 storm and the ‘wrong type of snow’ falling in 1991. This book beautifully links geography and history, showing how the weather affected historical events such as the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. It was published in 2008, so teachers could challenge students to update it with examples since then. A hugely entertaining book that also teaches interesting lessons and is suitable for both teachers and secondary school students.

This article summarises the main natural hazards facing the UK, with useful links to websites focused on different hazards, and shows how those with geographical expertise can manage them. The reader is taken through concerns about floods, droughts, coastal erosion, landslides, sinkholes and wildfires while simultaneously being shown how geographers can make a difference by working as hazard managers, often using GIS to map risk. A strong connection is made between increasing hazard risk and climate change. While so many articles about natural hazards fill a reader with concerns, this one also reassures, providing hope that geographers will be able to support communities in adapting to the natural hazards we face. This article will be helpful for teachers and students alike, whether to illustrate the key hazards in the UK, the careers our geography students can aspire to, or both.

The diversity of effects of the heatwave reflected in these photographs will cause any geographer to stop and reflect. From forests burnt in wildfires, through dried-up rivers, to dried-up saplings that will never grow into trees, these images capture the devastation of the heatwave on the natural world. Other photographs reflect the impact on people, including walkers avoiding cracks on a desperately dry footpath and people sheltering under trees in parks. Teachers could challenge their students to use these photographs and their captions to explore different ways the heatwave affected people and the environment. This could be developed by them making links between images and also to climate change – a thought-provoking article for teachers and students of any age.

Can the UK prepare for the extreme weather it can expect? This clip answers the question.