Heatwave: As heat-related deaths rise ministers must do more to protect those most at risk
The increasingly severe heatwaves hitting the UK underline the urgent need for stronger government action to protect people from extreme weather - especially children, older people and disabled people – says Friends of the Earth.
Last month’s heatwave, driven by climate change, exposed how rising global temperatures are exacerbating existing inequalities, with those most at risk bearing the greatest impact.
Thousands of excess deaths across Europe have been linked to the severe heatwave in June 2026. While official figures estimate that there were over 1500 heat-associated UK deaths during the summer of 2025.
Friends of the Earth is calling on ministers to urgently strengthen the UK government’s climate adaptation plan (The National Adaptation Programme) to ensure it properly reflects the growing risks posed by the accelerating climate crisis. In 2025, the government’s independent advisers, the Climate Change Committee, warned that the UK is not prepared for the impacts of climate change.
Last year Friends of the Earth, and two people whose lives have been impacted by the climate crisis, asked the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to hear their complaint over the UK government’s inadequate climate adaptation programme. This sets out government plans and policies for protecting communities from the impacts of climate change, such as extreme heat, flooding and coastal erosion.
Fran Di Giorgio, Friends of the Earth’s disability justice campaigns specialist – who has written that heatwaves are a disability rights emergency – said:
“The government’s failure to protect people – especially older and disabled people – is turning heatwaves into preventable public health crises.
“A credible climate adaptation plan is essential to safeguard lives and livelihoods. This must include investment in cooler, more resilient homes, hospitals, care homes and schools, while creating greener towns and cities with more trees and shade to reduce the dangers of extreme heat.
“Climate justice means disability justice. Any serious response to the climate crisis must put those most at risk – including disabled people – first. The best way to do that is by co-producing adaptation policies with the communities most impacted.”
Disability rights activist Doug Paulley – who is one of the people taking the UK government to the ECHR over its National Adaptation Programme - said:
“I’m fed up with the government’s failure to protect disabled people from deadly heatwaves and other extreme weather, even though we are among those most at risk.
“Time and again, when a crisis strikes, we’re among the first in the firing line - along with other groups such as older people, homeless people and people of colour.
“I've been suffering in the extreme heat. Disabled people are suffering and even dying from climate change. We need proper government action to safeguard our rights to life and quality of life.
“Ministers must stop treating disabled people as a disposable afterthought and take urgent, meaningful measures to ensure we are no longer left behind as the climate crisis intensifies.”
Friends of the Earth campaigner, Denis Fernando, said:
"It's outrageous that the fossil fuel giants, who have done the most to cause the climate crisis, have pocketed bumper profits while everyone else pays the price through soaring energy bills and more frequent, more destructive extreme weather – from storms and floods to deadly heatwaves. Ministers must make these companies pay far more towards building the resilient, climate-safe future we urgently need."
• A Friends of the Earth report, published in August 2025, highlighted the areas of England most at risk from dangerous heatwaves. This included nearly 10,000 (9,589) care homes, 1,012 hospitals and 10,064 nurseries.
Ends
Notes to editors:
1. Friends of the Earth is calling for:
• A new national adaptation plan to protect people from heat and other extreme weather events.
• £1 billion per year for upgrades to cool buildings prioritised in the areas most in need, including hospitals, care homes, and nurseries
• Better insulation and ventilation in homes. Not only does insulation keep homes warm in winter, it helps them stay cooler in the summer.
• More trees, parks, and water features to cool cities.
• Public ‘cool hubs’, like libraries and community centres, open during heatwaves.
• Heat training for care and health workers on how to protect people most at risk from high temperatures.
• Ensure local authorities and emergency services have the resources they need to respond to wildfires - which have hit record levels, are more frequent during heatwaves and the increasing periods of drought we are experiencing.
2. A recent UK government blog: Heat, health and inequality, said:
“Deprivation is strongly associated with poorer health outcomes, including higher rates of long term illness, disability and mental health conditions. People with existing health conditions tend to have greater sensitivity to extreme heat. For example, cardiovascular disease, respiratory illness and certain medications all reduce the body’s ability to regulate temperature.
“When rising temperatures interact with these existing health inequalities, the result is not just higher discomfort, but higher morbidity and mortality during extreme heat events.”
3. Last month’s heatwave was particularly severe:
• It saw the UK record its hottest ever June temperature
• Almost half of Europe’s 850 largest cities endured their worst ever heat stress. High temperature and humidity makes sweating less effective at cooling the body, making these temperatures even more dangerous.
• On Wednesday 24 June the London ambulance service responded to its highest ever number of life-threatening emergencies.
• A number of NHS Trusts in England declared critical incidents because of the extreme heat.
• More than 2,400 schools in England and Wales were closed.
• Services between Coventry and Leamington Spa were suspended after a rail buckled in Leamington in the extreme temperatures.