An Amber cold health alert remains in place for the West Midlands today, with government agencies warning ‘deaths are likely’. Temperatures will feel like -1C in parts of the region today (January 12) and -2C on Monday morning (January 13), forecasters predict.
The January cold snap has triggered rare Amber cold health alerts for the whole of England, which have been issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). Cold health alerts are issued when it’s believed the cold weather poses a risk to people’s health and the health services in the country.
There’s three levels of cold health alert that can be issued – yellow, amber and red – meaning the second highest warning has been issued to the West Midlands. The region is one of nine areas of England that have been put under an Amber warning.
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The Amber level is triggered when the impacts of cold weather are expected to be felt “across the whole health service” and for the potential of the “whole population to be at risk”. Vulnerable and elderly people are at particular risk.
The UKHSA has warned there could be: “A rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions. We may also see impacts on younger age groups.”
Meanwhile, health services could also be impacted by staffing issues as a result of the cold weather. Elsewhere, hospitals, care homes and clinics could see temperatures dipping below the recommended levels inside their facilities.
Households have been warned they could face challenges keeping their indoor temperature to the recommenced 18C, posing a particular risk to vulnerable people. And the transport and energy sectors could be impacted by the cold weather too.
The Amber alert is set to remain in place in the West Midlands until 9am on Tuesday (January 14). Cold weather is still forecasted until Monday. Throughout the day in Birmingham, the temperature is expected to drop gradually from 5C at 3pm, to 4C at 6pm, down to 3C by 7pm, and down to 2C and 1am tomorrow.
However, from 7pm, households can expect the temperature to feel like 0C, dropping to -1C by 10pm and -2C by 3am tomorrow.