UKHSA cold health alert explained as West Midlands handed five-day warning

A rolling cold-health alert has been issued for the West Midlands, and it comes with a warning of 'risk-to-life' to vulnerable members of the community. The alert, issued by the UK Health Security Agency, warned of an impact to health and social care services as a result of plummeting temperatures.

Temperatures are set to drop to below zero in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands this week, with a chance of snow in certain areas. For the West Midlands, the alert is in effect from 9pm tonight, Sunday, November 17, until 9am on Thursday, November 21, which will be the coldest period in the week.

The same alert was also issued for the East Midlands, the North West and Yorkshire and Humber. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) weather-health Alert system is mainly aimed at health and social care professionals and anyone with a role in reducing health impacts caused by extreme weather.

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The alerts are based on the impact of weather on public health and healthcare capacity, which is slightly different to Met Office warnings. Cold health alerts focus on the season between November 1 and March 31 and consider adverse cold weather and health-sector resilience.

The Met Office explained: "The Met Office starts by assessing the risk of persistent low average temperatures and any significant snow/ice in the forecast before deciding to invoke a full further assessment with the UKHSA on the decision and colour of alert to send, where the UKHSA will also factor in various data from the health sector."

This week's yellow warning for the West Midlands warns of the potential for increased use of healthcare services by vulnerable people and a greater risk to life of those in that category. Read the full forecast for Birmingham, which includes the chances of snow, in our report here.