A study of English adults found that heat-health alerts are widely received but often disregarded. Research by the United Nations University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health found that while seven in ten adults in England had seen a formal heat alert, 41 percent of them took no action to protect themselves.
Disbelief was the primary obstacle to action. Only 18 percent of people in England reported a high perception of heat risk, and roughly 30 percent said they knew little or nothing about how to protect themselves. Social media, the system's main channel for disseminating alerts, was the least trusted source of heat information, particularly among older adults – the group most vulnerable to extreme heat. The national survey drew on responses from 1,097 adults and 29 heat risk communicators.
England's warning system faced severe testing this summer. On 26 June, temperatures at Lingwood, Strumpshaw Hill reached a provisional 37.7°C, breaking a June record that had stood since 1976, while the country was placed under only its second-ever Red Heat Health Alert. On 13 August, Kew Gardens in southwest London recorded a provisional 38.1°C – the year's hottest day so far and the fifth-hottest on record, though still short of the UK's August record of 38.5°C set in 2003.
The study's lead author, Dr. Mehri Khosravi, said the findings suggested a deeper cultural problem. "Heat still gets treated as good weather, or as something that only happens to the very old and the very ill," she said. The research also found that weather information from English authorities was built mainly to coordinate institutions rather than prompt household action: informing the public rather than motivating protective behaviour was the dominant goal for three quarters of those interviewed.
Professor Kaveh Madani, director of the UNU institute and a co-author of the report, said the country had completed only half the work needed. "England has built one half of a heat plan, and built it well," he said. "The other half is where people actually live." The report called for heat resilience to be built into housing and planning policy through stronger enforcement of building regulations, and for greater use of trusted local intermediaries such as libraries, faith groups and social care providers to reach people digital alerts miss.
