Staying safe and well in the heatwave
Temperatures are expected to climb to 30 and higher for the next few days, and stay warm in the evenings.
This means that your ability to cool down after a hot day may be reduced, which raises the risk of becoming unwell from the heat.
Hospitals are currently struggling to cope with demand so we want to keep people well and prevent heatstroke and other serious health events.
Key Tips
- Extreme heat can affect your health, especially if you have a long term condition or are on some types of medication. The Royal Voluntary Service has some really good advice.
- People with a long term condition or who are vulnerable in other ways can be most affected. See advice from the NHS on how to cope in hot weather.
- Heat can also affect your pets. Check out the advice form the National Animal Welfare Trust on keeping pets safe.
- Check on vulnerable people and neighbours to make sure they’re ok. The risk of heatstroke or heat exhaustion will be high when temperatures climb over 30. If you start to feel dizzy or unwell, it is important to find shade and water. The NHS has some useful advice about heat exhaustion and heatstroke.
Prepare yourself for a working day
During this weather it’s important to make sure you eat breakfast to avoid blood sugar dips, keep well hydrated with water and wear loose fitting, lightweight clothing if possible. And if you work somewhere that is hot, ensure you get regular breaks and drink plenty of water. If you’re going into the office it’s wise to keep blinds closed and windows open to reduce heat and also ventilate to reduce Covid risk.
Other useful links
- The Met Office website has up to date weather forecasts. www.metoffice.gov.uk
- The DEFRA Daily Air Quality Information website uk-air.defra.gov.uk contains information on both air pollution and UKHSA’s real-time UV measurement data https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/data/uv-index-graphs
Travel Disruption
The road network is expected to be very busy with people making their way to the coast, and because disruption to public transport is anticipated.
Thameslink is advising people to only travel only if their journey is absolutely essential due to the potential for significant disruption to services during the heatwave.
There is a risk of damage to the railway infrastructure, meaning cancellations and delay. To ensure the safe running of trains, speed restrictions will be in place across the network, meaning journeys will take significantly longer than usual. As a result, timetables will be reduced.
For Monday 18 July, customers who are seeking to make essential journeys will be able to plan their journeys at www.nationalrail.co.uk from late on Sunday 17 July.
For journeys on Tuesday 19 July, customers will be able to plan from late on Monday 18 July.
The advice is to allow significantly more time, plan the journey before travelling and then check again before departing given the potential for disruption on the day.