‘We’re seeing lots of people who feel dizzy’: how heatwaves are taking a toll on people’s health and the NHS

Figures published ’s two heatwaves as a key reason why a record 2.5 million people attended A&E that month. Photograph: Adrian Sherratt/Alamy View image in fullscreen Figures published ’s two heatwaves as a key reason why a record 2.5 million people attended A&E that month. The last fall down stairs because of the heat resulted in multiple broken ribs, a wrist and her lower leg. “These are often elderly people who are taking diuretics – water tablets, to get rid of body fluid – or drugs for high blood pressure. It’s a good thing, most of the time, to be taking them. “But in this weather, that can make people feel very, very light-headed quickly. We’re seeing lots of people who feel very dizzy, some of whom have fallen over and hurt themselves as a consequence. UK records hottest day of year as fifth summer heatwave reaches peak “I’m struck . A wrist fracture can take a couple of months and a broken hip or lower leg more than six months.” Boyle, who was president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine from 2022 to 2025, is reflecting on the growing impact of unusually high temperatures on the health of the population and on the NHS, which treats the illness and injuries that extreme heat causes. He is talking on Thursday as the UK records the hottest day – 38.1C (100.6F) – of a year in which the first two heatwaves alone, in May and June, together caused 2,877 deaths, according to UK Health Security Agency estimates – almost double the 1,504 heat-related deaths it recorded during the whole of 2025. Figures published ’s two heatwaves as a key reason why a record 2.5 million people attended A&E that month. They included people whose breathing problems and other underlying health conditions were exacerbated , it said. “Extreme heat causes other problems too,” says Boyle. “I’ve seen a lot of older people end up in kidney failure because of dehydration. Also, the heat pushes some young people to go swimming in unsuitable and unsupervised rivers where they drown. “People taking medication for severe mental illness can also be at increased risk as their medication can leave them unable to recognise that they’re getting hot. “And hot people stuck in the back of an ambulance outside an emergency department, who are already ill, can get either heat exhaustion or heatstroke as a result. Heatstroke is very dangerous. “Our hospitals and ambulances are just not set up to look after people in the heat.