Portsmouth weather: Amber heat health alert issued across the South East as the hot weather returns

The amber alert is in effect from 12pm on Friday, June 27 to 6pm on Tuesday, July 1 with highs of 29 degrees forecasted in Portsmouth. It has been issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Met Office as they warn of potential threats to life, particularly for elderly and vulnerable people.

During the timeframe of the alert the Met Office is forecasting highs of 23 degrees on Friday, 25 degrees on Saturday and Sunday, with the highest temperature of 29 degrees expected on Monday.

Visit our newsletter page to sign up for free emails featuring the city’s best headlines, Pompey updates and much more

The amber alert means that “significant impacts are likely across health and social care services due to the high temperatures”. Those 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 details on the heat health alert can be found on the UKHSA website.

For an up to date weather forecast visit https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/