The cold snap could put the elderly at risk of death, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has warned as a charity criticised the Government’s decision to limit winter fuel payments.
The UKHSA has issued cold weather health alerts for all of England ahead of a week of low temperatures.
Amber alerts have been issued from 12pm on Thursday until January 8, meaning a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions, is likely, the UKHSA said.
Temperatures could fall as low as minus 8C on Thursday night in rural southern Scotland and northern England, the Met Office said. In the Coventry area temperatures could drop to minus 4 today (January 2) and Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
Age UK director Caroline Abrahams said the Government’s decision to limit the winter fuel allowance to only the poorest pensioners will be put “into sharp relief” by the cold snap.
Ms Abrahams said the charity had already been contacted by older people “worrying about what to do when this moment arrived”.
From this winter, only people on pension credit or certain other benefits will receive the winter fuel payments while more than nine million others are set to be stripped of the allowance.
“We urge older people to do everything they can to stay warm, even if that means risking spending more on their heating than they feel they can afford,” the charity director said.
“The energy companies are under an obligation to help if you are struggling and there may be support available from your local council too.”
Meanwhile, fresh weather warnings have been issued by the Met Office for ice ahead of a blast of snow over the weekend.
The yellow warning covering Coventry and Warwickshire indicates there could be snow and ice from 12pm on January 4 until the end of January 5.
As temperatures dip below freezing, this will lead to a risk of ice on untreated surfaces, the forecaster said.
A yellow warning is in place from noon on Saturday until 9am on Monday and covers all regions of England other than the South West, the majority of Wales and parts of southern Scotland.
About 5cm of snow is expected widely across the Midlands, Wales and northern England, with as much as 20-30cm over high ground in Wales and the Pennines, the forecaster added.
Strong winds could lead to snow drifts in some areas, and freezing rain as temperatures creep up could add to the risk of ice.
Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: “At the moment we’ve issued a very large snow warning for Saturday until Monday but it doesn’t mean that everywhere within that warning could see snow, it’s just a heads-up there could be some impacts.”