7,000 will die in the heat every year, warn MPs
But critics say they’re being alarmist
Thousands of Britons will die every year and the country’s motorways will melt unless ministers take action over soaring temperatures, MPs warned last night.
In an extraordinary report on the risks of future heatwaves, they said the number of weather-related deaths could rise to 7,000 a year by 2050 without a strategy to protect the vulnerable.
The MPs called on the Government to consider making it illegal for employers to force people to work in hot buildings, and they backed calls for dress codes to be relaxed in schools and offices during hot weather.
But the report sparked a backlash last night, with critics suggesting it was ‘alarmist’ on the basis of one spell of a few weeks of hot weather.
The MPs, from the Commons environmental audit committee, warned that Britain’s infrastructure was not equipped to cope with the more frequent extreme weather events expected as a result of climate change.
They said that the rail and motorway network could be brought to a standstill by regular heatwaves with tracks buckling and road surfaces melting.
They warned that there would be increased water shortages, criticising the fact that ministers have weakened water efficiency targets and are failing to introduce more efficient drainage systems.
according to their report, hospitals and millions of private houses – particularly those built in the 1960s or 1970s – are in danger of overheating during the summer months, putting thousands at risk.
The MPs said residents in care homes were also in danger because managers often believed old people ‘feel the cold’ and leave the heating on all day even in summer.
The report comes as Britain continues to swelter. Yesterday’s high was 32C (89.6F), reached at Wisley in surrey. But Tory MP andrew Percy said: ‘The public should be left to enjoy the nice spell of warm weather – not subjected to alarmist behaviour all because the sun has shone for a few weeks in the uK.
‘There are plenty of far warmer countries that manage to have non-melting motorways so I’m sure the M62 and other motorways will be just fine.’ The report, heatwaves: adapting to Climate Change, said more than 2,000 people died in only ten days in the 2003 heatwave when temperatures climbed as high as 38.5C (101.3F).
It said Met office has warned that hot spells of a similar intensity will occur every other year by the 2040s. The committee said that unless a strategy is developed to protect the elderly, numbers dying from the heat could rise to 3,000 a year by the 2020s, 7,000 a year by the 2050s and 12,000 by the 2080s.
heatwaves cause premature deaths from cardiac, kidney and respiratory disease.
The report pointed out that excess deaths in some nursing homes increased by 42 per cent in the 2003 heatwave. Mary Creagh, chairman of the committee, said heatwaves ‘threaten health, wellbeing and productivity’.
she added: ‘The Government must stop playing pass the parcel with local councils and the nhs and develop a strategy to protect our ageing population from this increasing risk.’