This week, as thermometers across France and Italy touched 45°C and red alerts were issued for the first time in several regions, Britain escaped the worst of the heatwave’s lethal grip. While the continent mourns rising death tolls – at least 500 in Spain and Portugal alone – the UK saw only a modest uptick in heat-related hospital admissions. This is not luck. This is the result of a decade of quiet, incremental preparation.
The government’s Heatwave Plan for England, first drawn up in 2004 and regularly updated, has been activated multiple times this summer. Local authorities, the NHS, and social care providers have coordinated to check on the vulnerable, open cooling centres, and issue public health warnings. The Met Office’s Heat Health Watch system, which triggers alerts when temperatures hit 30°C by day and 15°C by night, has been running effectively.
“The difference is preparation,” said Dr. Helen Russell, a public health specialist at the University of Manchester. “Britain started treating heatwaves as a public health emergency after the 2003 European heatwave killed 2,000 people here. We invested in forecasting, public messaging, and checking on the elderly. That investment is paying off now.”
In France, where the 2003 heatwave killed 15,000, authorities were caught off guard again this week. Nursing homes lacked air conditioning, and the elderly died in their hundreds. Italy’s red alerts came too late for many outdoor workers who collapsed in the fields. The contrast with Britain’s response is stark.
But praise for the system must not obscure the underlying inequalities. The UK’s heatwave plan works best for those in comfortable homes with fans and fridges. For the 4 million households in fuel poverty, often in poorly insulated tower blocks that become greenhouses, the advice to “stay cool” rings hollow. In cities like Manchester and Birmingham, the urban heat island effect means temperatures are 5-7°C hotter than the surrounding countryside. Landlords are not required to install cooling, and many renters are afraid to ask for fans.
“We had a 92-year-old woman die in her flat in Brixton last week,” said Sarah Jones, a community organiser in South London. “Her family said she was too scared to open the windows because of burglars. The system didn’t reach her. We need more than a plan; we need housing that can cope with the 40°C summers that are now the norm.”
There are also concerns about the future. The heatwave that just passed is not a one-off. Climate scientists predict that by 2050, UK summers will regularly reach 40°C. The current heatwave plan is designed for a 30°C world. The government’s own Climate Change Committee warned last year that overheating in homes is a “significant and growing risk” that requires urgent action on building regulations and retrofitting.
Meanwhile, the unions are calling for mandatory heat limits for outdoor workers. The TUC has demanded that the current “guidance” to employers – which only recommends rest breaks and water when temperatures exceed 30°C – be made legally binding. “Construction workers, delivery drivers, farm labourers: they are being expected to work in conditions that can kill,” said TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady. “We need a maximum working temperature, now.”
The government has so far resisted, arguing that a one-size-fits-all limit is impractical. But as the mercury rises and the headlines from the continent grow grimmer, the pressure is mounting.
For now, Britain can take a moment of grim satisfaction that its preparations have saved lives. But the heatwave is not over. The real test will come when the next 40°C day arrives, and we see whether the plan can hold. And whether we have the will to do what it takes to protect the most vulnerable before the next emergency strikes.
