‘Warned but not protected’: Four in ten adults in England ignore heat alerts

Research published by the United Nations University’s Institute for Water, Environment and Health found that seven in ten adults in England had seen a formal heat alert, yet 41 percent of them took no action to protect themselves. 

The most common reason was not confusion, but disbelief: many simply did not see themselves as being at risk.

Only 18 percent of people in England report a high perception of heat risk, the study found, and roughly 30 percent say they know little or nothing about how to protect themselves.

Older, not wiser

Social media, the system’s main means of getting the word out, was the least trusted source of heat information, particularly among older adults – the group most vulnerable to extreme heat.

The national survey published by UNU drew on the views of 1,097 adults along with 29 heat risk communicators. 

England’s warning system has been severely tested this summer – a season that is normally fast drawing to a close once it is mid-August. 

England’s warning system was tested severely this summer. On 26 June, temperatures at Lingwood, Strumpshaw Hill, reached a provisional 37.7°C, breaking a June record that had stood since 1976, while the country was placed under only its second-ever Red Heat Health Alert. 

That was surpassed on 13 August, when Kew Gardens in southwest London recorded a provisional 38.1°C – the year’s hottest day so far, and the fifth-hottest on record, though still short of the UK’s August record of 38.5°C set in 2003. Further amber alerts followed through the month.

Never too hot?

For Dr. Mehri Khosravi, the study’s lead author, the findings point to a deeper cultural problem. “Heat still gets treated as good weather,” she said, “or as something that only happens to the very old and the very ill.”

The research also found that weather information from authorities in England is built mainly to coordinate institutions rather than to prompt households to act: informing the public, rather than motivating protective behaviour, was the dominant goal for three quarters of those interviewed.

Professor Kaveh Madani, Director of the UNU institute and a co-author of the report, said the country had only gone halfway. “England has built one half of a heat plan, and built it well,” he said. “The other half is where people actually live.”

The report calls for heat resilience to be built into housing and planning policy, with stronger enforcement of building regulations, and for greater use of trusted local intermediaries such as libraries, faith groups and social care providers to reach the people digital alerts miss.