Britain is hot at the moment. The jet stream is well to the north of its usual summer path and has allowed high pressure to build and the heat increase under cloudless skies. 30 million people, about half the people in Britain, are now in The Meteorological Office 'Heatwave level 3' warning in Southern England, warning social and health care workers to focus on the very young, the very old and those with chronic diseases.
Today’s high temperature marks the fifth day in a row that the thermometer reading has exceeded 30C, representing the longest heatwave for seven years.
Professor Ben Armstrong, an epidemiological statistician at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: “Our previous studies have shown that as temperatures rise above a certain threshold, the risk of death increases. Using the same model, we estimate that the current heatwave has caused the premature deaths of 650 people. The excess is likely to have been overwhelmingly among the elderly, especially those over 75, some of which may have been among people who would have died just a few weeks later if there had been no heatwave.”
As forecasters predicted little respite until at least the end of next week, this number is likely to double.
Old men and women die in the heat in Britain because they :
* don't drink enough to keep their bodies hydrated.
* close up the widows to protect themselves from burglars.
* with air conditioning, get cold and then turn up the thermostat to get warm.
By the same token, Britain is a country where old men die in unnecessary numbers in winter cold :
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