How do hot and cold-health alerts work?
- Published
The UK Health Security Agency has issued yellow cold-health alerts for five regions of England, indicating that weather conditions could pose a risk to those who are particularly vulnerable.
The weather alert service warns the public when high or low temperatures could damage their health.
How does the weather health alert system work?
Run by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Met Office, the weather health alert system for England was introduced in June 2023.
Cold-health alerts are typically issued between 1 November and 30 March, and heat-health alerts between 1 June and 30 September.
The system issues warnings to members of the public and sends guidance directly to NHS England, the government and other healthcare professionals during periods of adverse weather.
Alerts are categorised according to severity and include:
- headline weather conditions expected in the coming days
- details of how weather conditions will affect each region
- links to additional information, advice and guidance.
The system was designed to help reduce illness and deaths by improving communication between the public and relevant bodies during periods of extreme weather.
What does each level mean?
The level of alert is based on Met Office forecasts and data.
There are four levels ranging from green (least severe) to red (most severe):
Green
Green is the normal level, when advice is given on how people should prepare to respond if temperatures rise or fall.
Yellow
Yellow alerts are issued during periods of hot or cold weather that are only likely to affect those who are particularly vulnerable, for example the elderly, or those with existing health conditions.
Amber
Amber alerts are issued in situations that could potentially put the whole population at risk. The NHS may see increased demand on GPs and ambulances, for example.
Travel disruption is also likely.
Red
A red alert is the most severe.
It is issued in situations when hot or cold weather would be a significant risk to life, for even the healthy population, and could lead to failures of critical national infrastructure, such as power outages or roads and rail lines being closed.
Which areas are covered by the latest cold-health alert?
Yellow cold-health alerts were issued on 7 February for five English regions:
- East Midlands
- West Midlands
- the North East
- the North West
- Yorkshire and the Humber
They will remain in place until 20:00 GMT on Thursday 9 February.
Separately the Met Office has issued two amber warnings for snow and ice on Thursday, covering north Wales and north-west Shropshire from 08:00 to 15:00, and the Peak District and south Pennines from 12:00 until 18:00.
A yellow warning for snow and ice is already in force for much of Scotland.
The BBC Weather app is only available to download in the UK.
