Hampshire heat health warning upgraded to amber as temperatures rise this weekend

A yellow heat health warning had been issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Met Office, however, that has now been upgraded to amber starting from today (June 19) at 12pm. The warning lasts until 9am on Monday, June 23 and covers all of England.

The Met Office is forecasting highs of 27 degrees in Portsmouth today before hitting 28 degrees on Saturday and Sunday. The upgrade to amber means that “significant impacts are likely across health and social care services due to the high temperatures”.

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These impacts include:

• a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions. There may also be impacts on younger age groups
• likely increased demand on all health and social care services
• internal temperatures in care settings (hospitals and care homes) may exceed the recommended threshold for clinical risk assessment
• the heat affecting the ability of the workforce to deliver services
• indoor environments overheating increasing the risk to vulnerable people living independently in community and care settings
• issues managing medicines
• staffing issues due to external factors (for example, affecting transport)
• increased demand for power exceeding capacity
• other sectors starting to observe impacts (for example, travel delays)

Further information on the weather health alerts can be found on the UKHSA dashboard.

The latest weather forecast and and warning can be found on the Met Office website.