Overview
- The analysis attributes the deaths to three short cold episodes in winter 2024–25, with a six-day spell in early January linked to 1,630 fatalities and mortality typically peaking about five days after exposure.
- Older people were most affected, especially those aged 85 and over, with men accounting for 1,439 deaths and circulatory diseases the largest diagnostic group at 834 deaths.
- While 975 deaths occurred in hospitals, the relative increase in risk during cold weather was greater for care-home residents and people at home, and 864 people died in their own homes.
- Cold-associated deaths were recorded in every region except the North East, and regional tallies included an estimated 270 in the South West.
- UKHSA estimated impacts by linking daily death registrations with Met Office temperature data, and its comparison with an earlier five-year period suggests vulnerability to cold may be increasing, though causes require further research as campaigners press ministers over reduced winter fuel payments.