COBRA meeting called as heatwaves continue to cause deaths

The Prime Minister will chair a meeting of the Government’s emergency Cobra committee in response to extreme heat, which has caused widespread wildfires and pushed many parts of the country into drought.

The Met Office has warned the UK is on course for its hottest summer on record.

The UK Health Security Agency estimates there were 2,877 heat-associated deaths during the May and June heatwaves alone, almost double the 1,504 recorded across the whole of summer 2025, with 2026 on course to be the deadliest year for heat on record. Those figures do not yet take account of July or August.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said:

“An emergency response to this latest heatwave is necessary, but there is a deeper emergency as well with millions of homes now unfit for summer or winter. Almost 2,900 heat-associated deaths have already been recorded and the same poorly energy efficient homes that cost lives in winter now leave people dangerously exposed in the heat in the summer.

“The Climate Change Committee warns that 92% of existing homes could overheat, with the poorest neighbourhoods seven times more likely to be at risk. These are households on the lowest incomes with no affordable way to keep cool, while the same price shock profiteers driving the climate crisis profit from the bills families pay simply to survive it.

“Treating the problems caused by poor quality homes already costs the NHS at least £2.5 billion a year.

“Ministers must prioritise upgrading the country’s homes and develop a proper strategy for extreme heat. They must also deliver a permanent social tariff to reduce the cost of keeping cool for people with disabilities and health conditions and break the link between electricity and gas prices.

“Keeping a home at a safe temperature should be affordable for everyone, not a luxury for those who can pay.”