UK weather: Rare amber cold health warning today with 'deaths likely' as Brits brace for -7C frost

The UK's Health Security Agency confirmed a country-wide amber acold wellness informing volition past until Tuesday, January 14, amid a informing that deaths could beryllium 'likely'

A uncommon amber acold wellness informing has been issued arsenic the UKHSA warns deaths are "likely".

The UK's Health Security Agency confirmed determination would beryllium warnings successful spot until Tuesday, with its uncommon continuation of the amber ruling confirmed connected the Government website. The warning, which was placed astatine 12pm connected Thursday, January 9, volition proceed until 9am connected Tuesday, January 14.

Weather during this forecast is apt to "cause important impacts crossed wellness and societal attraction services" and whitethorn spot an summation successful request for wellness services oregon staffing issues crossed the country. The amber informing is successful spot for each of England.

Factors considered by the Health Security Agency included hospitals, attraction homes and clinics, arsenic good arsenic the anticipation of a "rise successful deaths". They said determination whitethorn beryllium "a emergence successful deaths, peculiarly among those aged 65 and implicit oregon with wellness conditions. We whitethorn besides spot impacts connected younger property groups."

The work besides confirmed a "likely summation successful request for wellness services," "temperatures wrong places similar hospitals, attraction homes, and clinics dropping beneath the levels recommended for assessing wellness risks," and "challenges keeping indoor temperatures astatine the recommended 18C".

The UK is facing its coldest January successful 15 years aft reports of -18.7C were recorded successful Altnaharra, Scotland. Temperatures successful England were said to person dropped to -11C successful Cumbria and -5C successful Heathrow connected Friday (January 10).

According to the UKHSA, the upwind wellness alerting strategy is intended to supply aboriginal informing to the wellness and societal attraction sector, the responder community, the voluntary and assemblage assemblage and authorities departments erstwhile adverse temperatures are apt to interaction connected the wellness and wellbeing of the population.

The wellness alerting strategy is made up of the Heat-Health Alerts (HHA) and Cold-Health Alerts (CHA). Although temperatures are expected to retrieve adjacent week, they person dropped beneath freezing crossed the state implicit the weekend.

Met Office meteorologist Zoe Hutin said: "We're saying it's getting milder but by nary agelong does that mean (temperatures) are going to beryllium supra average, it conscionable volition consciousness comparatively overmuch much pleasant than it is astatine the moment.

"It has been getting progressively colder each nighttime this week, whereas looking astatine erstwhile years, we've had possibly 2 oregon 3 days wherever things person been peculiarly cold."

Parts of the state could beryllium acceptable for adjacent further snowfall this month, with Leeds, Wakefield, York, Bradford, and Ripon each said to person 2cm per hr from midday connected January 24, according to WXCharts.

Parts of Scotland tin besides expect snowfall aboriginal this month, with Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Stirling each tipped to acquisition further snowfall.