Icy blast raises risk of death in elderly, health chiefs warn, as Age UK criticises winter benefit cut
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Pensioners already worrying about heating, says charity, as temperatures set to plummet to zero or below across UK. A looming cold snap could increase the risk of elderly people dying, health chiefs are warning, as Age UK criticised the government’s limiting of winter fuel payments.
The UK Health Security Agency has issued cold-weather health alerts for all of England ahead of a week of low temperatures. Amber alerts mean a rise in deaths – particularly among people 65 and over or those with health conditions – is likely. The agency has issued such alerts to run from Thursday until next Wednesday, 8 January.
Temperatures could fall as low as minus 8C on Thursday night in rural southern Scotland and northern England, the Met Office said. It will also be cold in rural Wales and southwest England, with minus 6C expected. Even the southeast and London are also forecast to have freezing temperatures, prompting a yellow weather warning.
Age UK director Caroline Abrahams said the government’s decision to limit the winter fuel allowance to only the poorest pensioners would be put “into sharp relief” by the cold snap. Ms Abrahams said the charity had already been contacted by older people “worrying about what to do when this moment arrived”.
Some pensioners are already facing waits of more than 100 days to secure their winter fuel payment as Labour reforms put a major strain on the Department for Work and Pensions. From this winter, only people on pension credit or certain other benefits will receive the winter fuel payments, while more than nine million others are set to be stripped of the allowance.
