This summer has been a harsh wake-up call. The heat is taking its toll. Firefighters are battling the worst wildfires they have ever known. Crops are failing. Vulnerable people are at serious risk.

I was in the West Midlands, meeting families who are suffering the devastating impact of wildfires. Their lives have been turned upside down in a matter of hours. My thoughts are with everyone affected.

I also met the incredible men and women of our fire and rescue services. They have been working day and night, dealing with multiple major incidents at once. Just imagine walking towards a wildfire in blistering heat. I am in awe of them and I am going to make sure they have every support they need.

That starts with delivering an emergency funding package to support fire and rescue services facing the greatest pressure, on top of the almost £100 million we’ve already provided.

We will deploy aerial firefighting support where it is most needed. Rather than leaving local areas to source that support on their own, we will coordinate these assets nationally and get them to the places that need them most.

We will also provide military support in South Wales to support with their emergency response. Around 200 military personnel deployed on Friday morning to ease the pressure on the ground, support evacuations where needed, and strengthen the wider emergency response.

I have also asked for further military personnel to be put on standby to support other communities across the country, should they need it.

And for families who have lost their homes or suffered damage to their property, the recovery process must begin as quickly as possible. I want to see insurers doing the right thing by those who have been affected, processing their claims rapidly and getting support to affected families without unnecessary delay.

The responsibility to avoid more fires breaking out falls on us all. Everyone should follow the advice of emergency services to take care when disposing of cigarettes and avoid lighting open fires or barbecues. That’s why we have put in place a temporary ban on the sale of all disposable barbecues, starting this weekend.

The impacts of the relentless heat and drought are on a scale that we simply haven’t seen before. This week, I chaired a meeting of the emergency COBR committee to coordinate our response – and look at how we can deal with the effects on every part of our society.

That includes supporting the doctors and nurses working in wards never built for this. The A&E staff looking after those the heat hits hardest. The farmers watching a harvest go backwards through no fault of their own.

We will do what’s needed to help today and protect for tomorrow. This includes investing in nine new reservoirs, stopping leaks and making sure water companies live up to their responsibilities through greater public control.

We will ensure that our public institutions – our NHS, our schools, as well as our homes – are better adapted to deal with more extreme temperatures in future. And we will provide our farmers, our rural communities and our countryside with the support they need.

This summer has shown beyond doubt that climate change is not a far-off prospect, but with us today. None of us can pretend we cannot see it. The cracked soil, dried-out riverbeds and low reservoirs are signs that the impacts are well and truly upon us.

I know people are deeply worried about the climate crisis and what it means for them and their children’s future. So let me say again very directly – there can be no turning away from the fight against climate change. This government will hold to the target of reaching net zero by 2050 and continue to work with other countries to protect our planet.

I’m determined to build a cleaner, healthier economy with all the benefits that can bring for people across our country. That means making sure that the advantages of transitioning from fossil fuels to renewables and nuclear are passed onto working people. And it means making sure that the opportunities from good new jobs are spread fairly across a reindustrialised Britain, with good growth in every postcode.

This summer has shown everyone what is at stake. So we will not shrink from this battle. This government will rise to the moment and build a better, fairer, greener and more resilient Britain.