Dr. Raquel Nunes on the health and wellbeing impacts of yet another heatwave

Dr. Raquel Nunes, Assistant Professor, University of Warwick said:

"The forecast of a third UK heatwave within a month highlights a dangerous new reality we need to adapt to. These repeated heat events have cumulative health impacts that are often underestimated, exacerbating existing cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, straining health and social care services, and increasing mortality, especially among vulnerable groups.

"The health impacts of consecutive heatwaves are not discrete, they are compounding. Repeated exposure without sufficient recovery time increases the vulnerability of populations, particularly older adults, children, and those with pre-existing health conditions. This is specially concerning in the UK, where the built environment, health infrastructure, and social norms remain largely maladapted to extreme heat.

"Southern European countries offer valuable lessons from early warning systems, public education and awareness campaigns, and adaptive urban measures such as social cooling centers, climate shelters, the mapping of drinking water fountain locations, communication and advertisement (i.e. print, broadcast, outdoor, digital, mobile); proactive health and social care services for the vulnerable; heat-health advisory telephone lines; heat-adapted housing codes; and heatwave naming schemes.

"The UK needs to transition from reactive responses to proactive and anticipatory resilience building. This includes embedding adaptation across health service and social care preparedness, housing, urban systems, and public communication strategies to protect lives and reduce inequalities."