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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Neil Shaw

New extreme heat warning alert system for England starts today

A new extreme heat warning system for England comes into force from June 1, and people can sign up for alerts. The system is run by the UK Health Security Agency and the Met Office in a bid to reduce illness and deaths caused by heat.

It comes after them,peratures in the Uk went over 40C for the first time last year, and 2022 was the warmest year on record.

The Heat Health Alert system will operate year-round, but the core alerting season will run from June 1 to September 30, reports the BBC.

You can sign up here to receive alerts when the temperature is going to be high, with advice on what action you can take.

There will be four alert colours, with green meaning no risk to health:

  • yellow means the heat could affect the particularly vulnerable - over-65s and those with an underlying health condition
  • amber means the impact could affect the wider population and is likely to be felt across the whole health service
  • red means a significant risk to life even for healthy people and a severe impact across all sectors would be expected

Dr Agostinho Sousa, head of extreme events and health protection at the UK Health Security Agency, said: "Last year saw record high temperatures across England and evidence shows that heatwaves are likely to occur more often, be more intense and last longer in the years and decades ahead.

"It is important we are able to quantify the likely impacts of these heatwaves before they arrive to prevent illness and reduce the number of deaths."

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