Heatwaves a 'silent killer' for people who can't afford to escape them

While this week’s late summer heatwave may be welcomed by some after an overcast August, experts say it is a risk to the safety of those without the money to escape it.

People on lower incomes often work in jobs where they are more exposed to heat and do not have adequate insulation or cooling systems to avoid the “silent killer” when they return to small urban homes, according to climate scientist Professor Hannah Cloke.

Those with less money to spend on home improvements, fans or air conditioning are also more likely to have additional vulnerabilities which put them more at risk, she explained.

“They don’t necessarily have control over whether they can keep themselves cool during the daytime, and then they go back in the evening to these living environments that are not safe,” said Professor Cloke, from the University of Reading.

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A fifth of homes in England overheat during summer, but based on the make-up of housing stock, this is at a high risk of rising to 36%, a report by the Resolution Foundation found.

Almost a quarter of UK employees work in jobs at risk of heat stress, though these are more evenly distributed across the income scale, it said.

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“When we’ve got these tropical nights going on, the body just can’t cool down – there’s no respite from the heat,” continued the professor.

“That means the functions of the body are under even more strain and if they are already under strain from something else, that’s when we see all of these excess deaths happening.”

She added: “We know that heat is this silent killer.”

Last summer, an estimated 2,985 all-cause deaths were associated with five heat episodes, the highest number in any given year, according to the UK Health Security Agency.

A record-breaking four consecutive September days over 30C is expected to be recorded today, the Met Office said.

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People with disabilities, young children and older people are more prone to the effects of heat, said Professor Cloke.

And as climate change intensifies, they will increasingly “bear the brunt” of its impacts because those on lower incomes they “don’t have the resources to keep themselves safe”.

“They don’t have the choice, they don’t have the agency that people on higher incomes have. And it’s not really acceptable to put them in the way of the oncoming storm.”

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