Snow and ice has led to a UKHSA alert (Image: Getty)
The UK Health and Security Agency has issued a warning to older people in particular as temperatures are expected to plunge to -16C after a week of snow chaos.
The UKHSA has issued Cold Health Alerts to nine areas of England from today following days of heavy snow, ice and frost, particularly in the north of England as well as Scotland.
The has now put out yellow weather warnings for ice and snow on Thursday and Friday, with disruption to travel possible in the affected areas.
:
From 4pm today, several areas in England and Wales as well as Scotland have been warned about ice as well as ‘scattered wintry showers’ which could include snow, sleet and freezing rain.
Cities including Newcastle, Cardiff, Manchester, Liverpool, Exeter and Plymouth have been issued yellow weather warnings for ice from the , while Scotland has a separate snow warning in place too.
And today, the UKHSA has issued nine Cold Weather alerts in England: for the North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, the South East and the South West.
All nine areas have been handed amber cold weather alerts, effective from 12 noon today, Thursday, January 9, until 9am on Tuesday, January 14.
The UKHSA said: “Forecast weather is expected to have significant impacts across health and social care services, including:
“A rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions. We may also see impacts on younger age groups, a likely increase in demand for health services, temperatures inside places like hospitals, care homes, and clinics dropping below the levels recommended for assessing health risks, challenges keeping indoor temperatures at the recommended 18°C leading to more risk to vulnerable people, staffing issues due to external factors (such as travel delays), other sectors starting to observe impacts (such as transport and energy).”
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.”