On 12 October 2021, it was announced that Emmerdale would partake in a special crossover event involving multiple British soaps to promote the topic of climate change ahead of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Chocolate rooftops break, sugar glass shatters, and the characters come tumbling down and onto the floor, hinting at what should be a high-pressure episode. Referring to specific characters, she went on: "There is a story, which involves Nate, Sam and Belle, which is the one that only Emmerdale can do. There's a deadly windstorm that causes chaos in the village, and leaves lives on the line - with reported deaths too.

Emmerdale continues weeknights at a new time of 7pm on ITV1 and ITV Hub in the run-up to the 50th anniversary special.A sixth episode begin to air on Sundays in 2004, making Emmerdale the first British soap to broadcast six episodes a week. This will include a special hour-long episode on Sunday, October 16 - marking the first day Emmerdale aired back in 1972. It is known that Chas Dingle (played by Lucy Pargeter) will continue her affair with village villain Al Chapman (Michael Wildman) while her mum Faith slips away, and their relationship could be exposed during the 50th anniversary episode.

The show was originally broadcast twice a week in the afternoon [6] and was regarded by critics as a "sleepy soap" where not much happened.By 2000, Emmerdale episodes were regularly getting 12 million viewers, and the number of episodes per week was increased from three to five. It came after it was revealed the village of Emmerdale will not be the same again from October onwards as a wind storm shakes up life in the Dales for every single resident. Members of the Windsor-Hope family left the village in early 2006, and Viv Hope was killed off in a village fire in February 2011 after nearly 18 years on the show.