Following reports that more than 2700 people may have died from heat-related causes in England and Wales during the recent heatwaves, MP Toby Perkins urges Chesterfield people to stay prepared for more extreme heat this summer.
May and June saw successive heatwaves, smashing records for the warmest June on record, and a rare red heat alert issued for parts of England and Wales at the time. Researchers at Imperial College London, the Met Office and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimate that 550 people died as a result of the heat between 21 to 29 May, and that nearly 2200 died between 18 and 28 June in England and Wales, almost 440 people each day.
Many UK homes are not built to cope with extreme heat, leaving people vulnerable to prolonged, high temperatures. Heat puts immense physical strain on the body, made worse if you are dehydrated, with the heart pumping harder and faster to cool you off. Intense heat can affect anyone, including fit and healthy people, and is dubbed a ‘silent killer’ because early symptoms are easily overlooked. But babies and older people are among those most at risk of harm, as well as those with existing health conditions, like asthma and diabetes. It leads to more heart attacks, strokes and other potentially fatal emergencies.
Derbyshire has also seen a number of wildfires in the last few weeks, including a large-scale moorland wildlife on Tintwistle Moor in Glossop, which first began nearly three weeks ago. Emergency services were called to a new fire yesterday on agricultural land in the Scarcliffe area in Derbyshire, which has led to road closures.
Toby Perkins MP is urging Chesterfield to stay prepared for heat, closing curtains and blinds during the day and opening them at night when the temperature has gone down, keeping out of the heat if you can, and cooling yourself down through staying hydrated and having a cold shower or putting cool water on your skin or clothes. Residents living nearby to wildfires are advised to stay away and keep windows closed.
Toby said, “Hot weather can be enjoyable, but it can also leave many people exposed to health and safety risks, especially the elderly and very young. I was devastated to hear that there were thousands of excess deaths in England and Wales due to the recent heat waves.
Chesterfield, please take care, keep your house and your family cool, and check in on your neighbours during periods of extreme heat.”
Due to the known effects of climate change, heatwaves are expected to become more frequent, more intense and longer-lasting. Climate change has warmed the planet by around 1.4C since pre-industrial times and scientists believe it added between 3 and 4C to the maximum temperatures recorded in May and June. Increasing temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns due to climate change make the UK more susceptible to wildfires.
As Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, Toby has been raising the issue of the lack of UK preparedness for extreme heat, and urging the government to take strong action to reduce carbon emissions in order to mitigate the worst effects of climate change.