The West Midlands region has been hit by a rare amber cold health alert. The warning has been issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) – as the temperature is set be freezing through the day today (January 11).
The West Midlands is one of nine regions in England to be given an amber warning, which will remain in place until 9am on Tuesday, January 14. Cold health alerts are issued during periods of cold weather. The whole of England has received amber alerts.
There are three levels of cold health alerts – yellow, amber and red. Amber alerts are issued when the impacts of cold weather are expected to be felt right across the whole health service, including health and social care services.
READ MORE: All the Midland postcodes recieving DWP special Cold Weather Payments this week
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The UKHSA has issued six individual warnings as part of the amber cold health alert. Elderly and vulnerable people are at particular risk, while staffing issues could impact the health service, too.
Impacts of amber cold health alert
- an increase in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions. The UKHSA said there could be impacts on younger age groups
- a likely rise in demand for health services
- temperatures inside hospitals, care homes, and clinics dropping below the levels recommended for assessing health risks
- challenges keeping indoor temperatures at the recommended 18°C leading to increased risk to vulnerable people
- staffing issues due to external factors including travel delays
- other sectors starting to feel impacts, such as the transport and energy sectors
Nine regions have been given Ambler cold health alerts
(Image: UKHSA)
The UK government website said: “Amber alerts are issued in situations in which the expected impacts are likely to be felt across the whole health service, where there is potential for the whole population to be at risk, and where other sectors apart from health may also start to observe impacts, indicating that a coordinated response is required.”
It comes as the forecast in Birmingham today is set to see temperatures hover around -0C up until 1pm, before rising to 1C into the night and Sunday morning (January 12). However the Met Office says the temperature will feel more like -1C or -2C in places.
Separate weather maps from WX Charts reveal the temperature to dip to -2C in the Midlands region today.