Skip to main content

Cookies on UKHSA data dashboard

We use some essential cookies to make this service work.

We'd like to set additional cookies so we can remember your settings, understand how people use the service and make improvements.

View cookies
UKHSA data dashboard

BetaThis is a new service - your feedback will help us to improve it.

Information
Yellow heat health alert issued for the East Midlands, South East, East Of England, and London

Regions affected include the East Midlands, South East, East Of England, and London. The alert will be in place from 9pm Thurs 12 June until 8am Sunday 15 June. For more information, please see the Weather health alerts page.

BackEntry title:

Heat health alert risk score

Last updated on Thursday, 8 May 2025 at 03:12pm

Summary

Topic
Heat-alert
Category
headline
API name
heat-alert_headline_matrixNumber

Rationale

Weather health alerts provide an early warning when adverse temperatures may affect the health and wellbeing of the population.

Definition

The heat health risk score is a number between 1 and 16, determined based on the potential impact level of the high temperatures and the likelihood of those impacts occurring. This ranges from very low impact and very low likelihood up to high impact and high likelihood.

Methodology

Heat-health alerts are issued when hot temperatures have the potential to impact the health and wellbeing of the population.

The alerts are given a colour (yellow, amber or red) based on the combination of the impact the weather conditions could have, and the likelihood of those impacts being realised. 

These assessments are made in conjunction with the Met Office when adverse weather conditions are indicated within the forecast.

Yellow and amber alert assessments cover a range of potential impacts (including impacts on specific vulnerable groups, for example, people sleeping rough, through to wider impacts on the general population) as well as the likelihood (low to high) of those impacts occurring. This additional information should aid making decisions about the appropriate level of response during an alert period.

Once the decision is made to issue an alert (yellow, amber or red), these are cascaded to those registered to receive the alerts and made available at Weather-Health alerting system.

The heat-health alerting season operates from 1 June to 30 September. A heat-health alert may still be issued out of season if adverse weather is expected outside of this period.

Caveats

In England there are 2 early warning systems for high temperatures. These are heat-health alerts and the extreme heat warnings, part of the National Severe Weather Warning Service (NSWWS).

Since summer 2021 the UKHSA and the Met Office have worked to align heat-health alerts and extreme heat warnings. This is to minimise the potential impact of adverse weather. 

Each system targets different audiences yet work together to help focus the messages being transmitted. 

Heat-health alerts target the health and social care sector and responder community. Extreme heat warnings target a wider audience including the responder community and the public. 

The NSWWS only issues either amber or red alerts for extreme heat. In contrast, we can issue yellow, amber or red heat health alerts. This is because the health sector is likely to see the impact of hot weather before other sectors. 

Data source

Weather forecasts are provided by the Met Office. Heat-health risk scores are determined by the UKHSA Extreme Events and Health Protection Team.

Back to top