Some hospitals in England have had record numbers of people attending A&E amid a summer crisis, NHS trusts have said, as the UK experienced its hottest day of the year.

The mercury reached 35C (95F) on Thursday at Heathrow, west London, and is expected to go even higher before thunderstorms bring some relief. The Met Office says the all-time record of 38.5C could be exceeded in south-east England on Friday.

The weather has brought with it serious concerns about health as higher temperatures increase the probability of dying from cardiac, kidney and respiratory diseases for some people, with associated higher air pollution also posing a risk. On Thursday, a “high” air pollution alert was issued for London.

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “The heatwave has meant that in some places at least, we’re back to winter conditions – in hospitals, community, mental health and ambulance services – and although fewer staff are off sick there are more away on holiday.

“Some trusts are reporting record numbers of people coming in to A&E, with increased emergency admissions, often for respiratory problems and conditions made worse by dehydration. We have heard concerns about large numbers of people from care homes requiring treatment.

“This extra activity is leading to delays for patients requiring planned operations such as knee and hip replacements.”

She also warned the heat had highlighted the shortcomings of ageing buildings, which were not designed or equipped to deal with the conditions and were now suffering from past decisions to delay investment.



The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned of a major public health crisis unless action was taken. It said sustainable new buildings were the solution in the future but said that in the short term patients and nurses needed to be protected through easy access to drinking water, relaxation of dress codes and effective ventilation systems.

The college also complained that some nurses were not allowed to take water bottles on to wards.

Kim Sunley, national officer at the RCN, said: “Nurses are now becoming patients themselves due to the heat. We have heard from one member who ended up in A&E suffering from dehydration after working 12-hour shifts back to back in temperatures exceeding 30C. Others have reported exhaustion, sickness and dizziness. This is not acceptable. Good patient care depends on nurses and clinical support assistants being well enough to perform their jobs effectively.”

Sara Gorton, head of health at Unison, said: “Friday is predicted to be the hottest day on record, yet most NHS hospitals don’t have air conditioning. Managers must ensure staff and patients are protected so that the extreme heat doesn’t become intolerable”

The Met Office issued a level three, amber heat health watch warning on Monday, which acts as an alert to health providers that extreme temperatures are on the way. It was supposed to end at 9am on Friday but has been extended by 24 hours.



The shadow health secretary, Jon Ashworth, said that while winter crises in the NHS had become commonplace in recent years, it was time to face up to the impact the heat was having on A&E departments.

“The Environmental Audit report finds that two years ago in a heatwave there were nearly 3,000 incidents of hospitals overheating and that summers like this will become the norm over the next 20 years,” he said. “Quieter summer months are clearly a thing of the past, and the government must help the NHS adapt swiftly to the realities of year-round pressures.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman defended the government’s existing “robust plans”. She said: “Our heatwave plan for England contains measures to help organisations prepare, including a national alert system which PHE uses to flag imminent heatwaves.

“NHS England also has its own hot weather alert system in place, which helps individual trusts plan in advance and cope with any additional demand.”

The heat has also put pressure on other emergency services. There were 56 fires on grass verges next to England’s motorways and major A-roads in the 10 days to Wednesday, Highways England reported.

London Fire Brigade commissioner, Dany Cotton, has written to all London councils requesting a temporary BBQ ban in public parks because of a record number of grass fires “across a tinder dry capital”. She said: “I am calling on all our partners to do whatever they can to help us protect London’s open spaces from devastating blazes.”



The extreme temperatures this summer have also affected transport with railway tracks buckling. There was misery for Eurotunnel passengers on Thursday, who faced delays of more than five hours after air conditioning units failed on trains.



The English end of the Folkestone-Calais link was worst affected, with the company warning on Thursday afternoon that customers faced queueing for up to 90 minutes just to check in and a further four hours for the next available slot.

The hot weather also led Lord’s cricket ground, which prides itself on tradition, to grant members of the MCC and their guests the exceptional permission to dispense with the requirement to wear jackets in the pavilion or to arrive wearing one.