The alert is set to be in place from January 6 to 12 – and warns of excess deaths, staffing issues and more due to plunging temperatures.
According to the latest Met Office forecast, temperatures are set to plunge to as low as -3C later this week with strong wind gusts of over 30mph.
The full health warning reads:
- 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)
A new alert will be issued depending on changing factors.
This comes days after the region was hit with a thick blanket of snow – plunging transport, businesses and more into chaos.
The A66 between Scotch Corner and Penrith remains closed for a second day – with no news of when it will re-open.
Ten schools across County Durham were also forced to close their doors today due to the weather, stating that their sites were made “unsafe” by the deluge of snow.
Nationally, January 5 was the UK’s coldest night of the winter so far, with a temperature of minus 13.3C recorded in Loch Glascarnoch in the Highlands, between Ullapool and Inverness.
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The Environment Agency has issued 166 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and 299 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, across England.
In Wales, there are three flood warnings and 34 flood alerts.
Major airports closed their runways for several hours due to heavy snow, while there were stranded vehicles and collisions which blocked key roads across northern England.