Cold Health Alert issued for North East with risk of increased deaths
A Cold Health Alert has been issued for the North East with the risk of a rise in deaths.
The Government alert is in place from 8am today (November 17) until 8am on Friday (November 21).
In a statement on the Government’s UK Health Security Agency’s website a spokesperson said: “Significant impacts are possible across health and social care services. This includes a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions, but we may also see impacts on younger age groups.
“There may also be an increased demand for remote healthcare services with the weather potentially impacting on the workforce delivering service.
“There may be a challenge to keep indoor temperatures at the recommended 18°C leading to more risk to vulnerable people.”
The current Met Office forecast for Sunderland, Newcastle and South Shields suggests temperatures will fall to zero degrees Celsius or below tonight (November 17) as well as on Wednesday (November 19) and Thursday night (November 20).
Daytime temperatures during this period will rise to just 3 or 4 degrees Celsius between Tuesday and Friday.