The couple’s move, made years before this summer, feels more reassuring now that the United Kingdom has experienced its hottest summer on record. Five successive heat waves and widespread drought hit the country; two-thirds of England was in drought, and water restrictions affected 27 million people.

“I realized that it was likely to get very, very hot in the British Midlands, even during my lifetime,” said Coe, 69. “I said… I think we need to move to Scotland.”

Other households have made similar choices. Susan Chinnery and Steve Lewis left the Milton Keynes area for Westray, in the Orkney Islands, last year, in part because they were struggling with hotter summers. Their former Victorian-era home lacked air conditioning. Chinnery recalled that during the heat of 2022, the couple slept outside because the house was too hot.

Melissa Terras moved with her family from Letchworth Garden City to Edinburgh in 2017, partly because of climate concerns. She chose a home on higher ground with rising sea levels in mind. Terras said people who once dismissed climate change as a reason to move are now taking the prospect more seriously.

There are signs the weather is entering some buyers’ calculations. Estate agents in the Scottish Highlands say more prospective buyers mention cooler summers, while recent figures show home prices rising year over year in Scotland as prices fell in southeastern England and Greater London. Those figures do not establish that climate is driving the broader market shifts, and there is no indication that northward moves amount to mass migration.

Climate is one factor among jobs, housing costs and the economy, but the pressure is growing. Scientists say Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent. This summer, large parts of the region faced extreme heat and wildfires, and at least 35,000 excess deaths were thought to be linked to the heat.

Gaia Vince, a London-based journalist and author who studies climate-driven migration, says wealthier people are already looking to places such as Scotland and Ireland for a more livable climate. She expects a similar pattern in the United States, where the Great Lakes region and Alaska could draw people from hotter areas. California native Jason Sorensen, who moved with his wife to the Scottish Highlands last year after experiencing Los Angeles wildfires and hot summers in London, is one example of an American making that choice.

But moving is not an option available to everyone, and relocation does not replace the need to prepare communities for worsening heat. Vince says Britain’s infrastructure was built for a climate that no longer exists. As more residents weigh heat and other climate risks in decisions about where to live, the challenge for governments is not only anticipating movement, but making homes and public infrastructure safer for those who stay.