August heatwave fuels rise in deaths, as Covid-19 fatalities fall to lowest level since before lockdown

Deaths in the UK have risen above average for the first time since mid-June, but coronavirus is not behind the rise.

The heatwave experienced during the week ending August 14 is likely to explain the weekly increase, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

There were 9,392 deaths from all causes in England and Wales in the week ending August 14 - 447 more deaths compared with the previous week.

This took the number of deaths that week to 3.4 per cent above the average for this time of year over the past five years - the first time the average has been exceeded since June 12.

Meanwhile, deaths involving coronavirus have been steadily falling.

There were 139 deaths registered in the week ending August 14 that mentioned "novel coronavirus", an 8.6 per cent fall from the 152 deaths in the previous week.

It is the lowest number of weekly deaths involving Covid-19 registered since the week ending March 20, before the lockdown.

Overall, there were 10,580 deaths from all causes registered across the UK in the week ending August 14 - 265 deaths higher than the five-year average and 370 more deaths than the previous week.

England had the highest number of deaths involving Covid-19 with 125 deaths, followed by Wales with 14 deaths, Northern Ireland with four deaths and Scotland with three deaths.

The ONS said: "The rise in deaths between weeks 32 and 33 coincided with high temperatures in England and Wales, and heatwave warnings were issued by NHS England.

"The increased number of deaths, and the rise above the five-year average, were likely due to the heatwave; the coronavirus did not drive the increase, as deaths involving Covid-19 continued to decrease in week 33."

Seven regions of England had deaths above the five-year average in the week ending August 14, the ONS said.

They were north-east England, the East Midlands, London, north-west England, south-west England, eastern England and south-east England.

In two regions the number of registered deaths was below the five-year average: the West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber.

The ONS also released separate data on the impact of Covid-19 on perceptions of unity and division in Britain, surveying 12,630 adults between April 24 and June 28.

It found that at the start of the period, a higher proportion of people felt Britain would be more united after the pandemic than felt this way at the end of the period.

More than half (57 per cent) felt this way in the first week of the survey period, falling to 28 per cent in the final week.

Over the same period, expectations of a divided Britain increased by 33 percentage points.

This suggests perceptions of unity during lockdown "have gradually dissipated as things have slowly started to return to normal", the ONS said.

Dawn Snape, assistant director at the ONS's sustainability and inequalities division, said: "Today's research shows that, earlier in the national lockdown, people believed that a post-pandemic Britain would be a more united one.

"However, over subsequent weeks, this belief declined.

"Most people also expected that inequalities in society would remain.

"But interestingly, there is still a belief that we will be a kind nation, perhaps because of the many stories of individual kindness we have heard or experienced over this time."

Prof Hannah Cloke, Professor of Hydrology at the University of Reading, said the latest figures for the August week were "extraordinary", suggesting climate change could be having a greater impact than Covid-19.

She said: "In the absence of evidence of any new Covid-19 spike, the ONS has actually put its finger on a potentially much more alarming silent killer, by suggesting that high temperatures are to blame.

“This is truly extraordinary. While more research needs to be done to confirm this, it is very likely that the week-long heatwave that saw tropical nights and regular daytime temperatures above 35 degrees killed hundreds of people.

“Heatwaves are one of the extremes of weather that are most closely linked to climate change. As the average temperature rises, potentially lethal extremes of heat in places like the UK and other densely populated regions will become more common," she added.