A new alert system will warn the public when high temperatures could damage their health this summer in England.
Run by the UK Health Security Agency and the Met Office, it is aimed at reducing illness and deaths among the most vulnerable.
Climate change is likely to make heatwaves more frequent.
UK temperatures rose above 40C for the first time last summer, the country’s fourth warmest, with Coningsby, Lincs, reaching a record 40.3C on 19 July.
Last year was the UK’s warmest – and this century has had 15 of the top 20, with all of the hottest 10 in the past two decades.
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The Heat Health Alert system will operate year-round, but the core alerting season will run from 1 June to 30 September. The system will offer regional information and advice to the public and send guidance direct to NHS England, the government and healthcare professionals.
Individuals can sign up to receive alerts directly here, and people can specify which region they would like to receive alerts for.
There will be four alert colours, with green indicating no risk to health:
yellow means the heat could affect the particularly vulnerable – over-65s and those with an underlying health condition
amber means the impact could affect the wider population and is likely to be felt across the whole health service
red means a significant risk to life even for healthy people and a severe impact across all sectors would be expected
