UKHSA issues 5 Cold Health Alerts in England as older people warned

The UK Health and Security Agency has issued a warning to older people in particular as three days of snow and ice are set to freeze the UK in an Arctic blast.

The UKHSA has issued Cold Health Alerts to five areas of England from today following Met Office forecasts for and ice in the coming three days.

The Met Office has put out yellow weather warnings for ice and snow, with disruption to travel as well as power possible in the affected areas.

From 7pm on Monday, several areas mostly in the north of England and Wales as well as Scotland have been warned about up to 20cm of snow falling, including 10cm even at lower levels.

And today, the UKHSA has issued five Cold Weather alerts in England: for the North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands and West Midlands.

All five areas have been handed yellow cold weather alerts, effective from 9pm today, Sunday November 17 through to 9am on Thursday, November 24.

The UKHSA said: "Alert is in effect from 17 November 2024 at 09:00pm to 21 November 2024 at 09:00am.

"Forecast weather is likely to have minor impacts on health and social care services, including increased use of healthcare services by vulnerable people and greater risk to life of vulnerable people."

In its guidance on Cold Weather Alerts, the UKHSA says: "Whilst exposure to cold can affect anyone, some people are particularly at risk. These include:

• older people (aged 65 and above)

• people with cardiovascular (heart and circulation) conditions

• people with respiratory conditions (in particular chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and childhood asthma)

• people with mental health conditions

• people with learning and/or physical disabilities

• young children (particularly those aged under 5)

• pregnant women

• people on a low income

There are many reasons for the increased risk of ill-health in cold weather. These include:

• poor-quality housing and particularly cold homes

• the higher frequency of circulating infectious diseases, such as flu and norovirus during the winter months

• physical hazards such as snow and ice

The UKHSA added: "Yellow and amber alert assessments cover a range of potential impacts (for example impacts on specific at-risk groups, such as rough sleepers or people using adult social care services, through to wider impacts on the general population) as well as the likelihood (low to high) of those impacts occurring. This combination of information on impacts and likelihood should help those making decisions about the appropriate level of response during an alert period.

"A CHA should trigger a series of actions by different organisations and professionals as well as the public, building upon year-round planning activities to ensure cold-weather preparedness. The action cards emphasise the importance of joint working across agencies including the voluntary and community sectors and highlight one aim of the AWHP: to ensure that there is an integrated response to severe weather events across sectors. Local areas will need to consider those actions indicated in the relevant section which will need to be taken jointly across organisations and sectors."