“People with heart and cardiovascular problems, the same applies, because people’s hearts have to beat faster to keep up with the heat. It’s not just explicitly heat-related problems… even mental health problems get worse in hot weather.”
Powell stated that the area she works in has seen “a lot of homeless people”, who may be even more vulnerable to heat-related conditions if they are unable to access shelter.
“Homeless people are more vulnerable to anything that is going to make life harder for them and impact their health, and heatwaves are no different.” She added that extreme heat also creates “more burden, more strain, and more health problems” for the NHS.
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Unions have raised concerns about workplace safety in high temperatures. Unite the Union has called for a legal maximum, arguing that heat can cause “fatigue, extra strain on the heart and lungs, dizziness and fainting, or heat cramps… [and] lead to accidents”. The union warned that at a blood temperature of 38.8C, there is a risk of heat stroke, with collapse possible at 41.1C.
Rob Miguel, Unite’s national health and safety adviser, said: “As the climate changes, it is vital that health and safety law is updated… We urge the government to get a move on.”
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Shelly Asquith, health and safety policy officer at the Trades Union Congress (TUC), warned of an elevated risk of sunstroke for outdoor workers and a long-term risk of skin cancer. She said the UK must adapt, “implementing a legal maximum workplace temperature, as well as improving buildings to keep them cool… The cost of inaction will be greater than the cost of modernising and future-proofing our industry.”
Heatwaves are part of ‘a systemic problem’
Powell said that while there are ways to reduce the immediate health risks of heatwaves, they are part of a “systemic problem” driven by global warming. “We never used to have four heat waves in a summer, not year after year,” she said. “It’s definitely getting worse, and it’s going to get worse if we keep burning fossil fuels.”
Her group, Mothers Rise Up, is campaigning for a rapid switch to renewable energy and to “curb and eventually stop new fossil fuel extraction”, arguing that “we can’t remain within liveable climate limits with new fossil fuels”. She said the fossil fuel industry has created barriers to change, with politicians in the UK and US “perpetuating myths” about climate change due to industry ties.
Powell added that while Donald Trump has been open about his industry connections, UK links tend to be “more reserved, private” – citing Reform UK’s reported oil and gas funding, Nigel Farage’s dismissal of net zero goals as “lunacy”, and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s claim that reaching net zero by 2050 is “impossible”.
She also noted that environmental issues such as air pollution and heatwaves are part of the same systemic challenge, and that addressing them requires climate action on a large scale.
“You can have all the ice cubes in your freezer that you want, but if we’re not going to really tackle the problem, then it’s going to run away from us and become impossible to solve,” she said.
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