Cold health alert in East Midlands increased to amber

Snow is forecast for the weekend.

An Amber Cold-health alert has been issued by the UK Health Security Agency for the East Midlands.

It is in place from now until the 8th of January 2025 at 12:00pm.

The UK Health Security Agency has warned that forecast weather is likely to cause significant impacts across health and social care services, including:

• "a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions. We may also see impacts on younger age groups
• a likely increase in demand for health services
• temperatures inside places like hospitals, care homes, and clinics dropping below the levels recommended for assessing health risks
• challenges keeping indoor temperatures at the recommended 18°C leading to more risk to vulnerable people
• staffing issues due to external factors (such as travel delays)
• other sectors starting to observe impacts (such as transport and energy)"

The Met Office has said that 'heavy snow, and some freezing rain in places, may cause some disruption over the weekend.'