UKHSA and the Met Office have issued an amber Cold-Health Alert (CHA) across the North West of England for this week.
After what had been an unseasonably warm and wet December and festive period, it seems the typical winter weather has well and truly arrived now, as a number of weather warnings have been dished out right across the UK for this week – including the amber CHA in the North West, which covers Greater Manchester.
The amber CHA – which also covers the West Midlands, East Midlands, and the South West of England – will stay in place until 12pm this Friday (12 January).
UKHSA and @metoffice have issued an amber Cold-Health Alert for the North West of England, West Midlands, East Midlands and South West of England until 12pm on Friday 12 January. Find out more here: https://t.co/W2FmqSrr56
While it’s only the amber CHA that Greater Manchester residents need to be aware of this week, for other regions in the UK, this alert has been issued on top a Yellow Cold-Health Alert, which still remains in place in the North East of England, Yorkshire and The Humber, East of England, South East of England, and London.
All regions had previously been placed under a yellow alert from 9am on Saturday 6 January, according to the UKHSA, and the Met Office had already been forecasting “a period of lower-than-average temperatures” across this past weekend and this coming week.
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But what exactly is an amber Cold-Health Alert? What does it mean? Who is set to be most affected? And what advice is being given out?
Well, under the new CHA system – which was introduced by the UKHSA and the Met Office back in June last year – an amber alert means that cold weather impacts are likely to be felt across the whole health service for “an extended period of time”.
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“There is potential for the whole population to be at risk,” the UKHSA warns.
UKHSA and the Met Office has issued an amber Cold-Health Alert for the North West of England / Credit: RawPixel
On top of this, there are other public sectors that may also start to “observe impacts”, and this will ultimately indicate that a “coordinated response is required”.
Speaking as the amber CHA was issued for the North West of England this week, and providing some advice for those who may need it most, Dr Agostinho Sousa, who is the Head of Extreme Events and Health Protection at UKHSA, said: “With the Met Office forecasting drops in temperature across the UK into next week, it is important to check in on the wellbeing of those most vulnerable to the cold.
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“Cold weather can increase the risks of heart attacks, strokes, and chest infections, so it can have a serious impact on health, particularly for older people and those with pre-existing health conditions.”
The UKHSA has issued some top tips which you can use to keep yourself and others safe during periods of cold weather:
Check the weather forecast and the news
Make sure you have sufficient food and medicine
Take simple measures to reduce draughts at home
Keep bedroom windows closed
Wear multiple layers of thinner clothing
If you’re eligible, get vaccinated against flu and COVID-19
Get help if needed – and call NHS 111 or 999 in an emergency
The impactful rain and showers which have been a feature of the new year’s weather will ease with many regions becoming fine and dry over the weekend.
Dr Sousa continued: “Temperatures are expected to turn particularly cold overnight, as we would expect at this time of year.
“So if you have a pre-existing medical condition or are over the age of 65, it is important to try and heat the rooms where you spend most of your time, such as your living room or bedroom, in the coming days.”
Find out more information about staying safe during cold weather here.
Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons
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95% of Mancs apparently want the city to be ‘cashless’, new study reveals
Emily Sergeant
An eye-opening new study has found that only 5% of Mancs still use cash as their preferred method of payment nowadays.
It comes as no surprise that cash is less of a ‘king’ nowadays than it used to be, but now a new report by global financial technology company SumUp has suggests that only 5% of people in Manchester prefer to pay with cash, while 59% choose debit and credit cards, so that leaves one question… is Manchester on its way to becoming a cashless city?
To discover how payment preferences are evolving, SumUp conducted a nationwide survey to gather insights from UK consumers about their payment habits.
The company was particularly intrigued to not only discover payment methods people prefer, but what their concerns around certain payment methods, alongside how they feel about businesses that don’t accept digital payments.
95% of Mancs apparently want the city to be ‘cashless’ / Credit: Mylo Kaye (via Unsplash) | Pexels
Firstly, before we go any further, it’s important to note that almost two thirds (63%) of Manchester residents said they have changed the way they make payments over the past year.
Unsurprisingly, debit and credit cards remain the top choice for the majority of Mancs, with over half (59%) saying it was their preferred method of payment, followed by mobile payment methods such as Apple Pay and Google Pay at 24% – which is likely thanks to their ease of use and the ability to have multiple cards on one device.
While a third (31%) of Mancs said that they ‘don’t mind’ cash and still opt to carry it for situations where digital payments aren’t an option, a growing number of people in the city are feel that digital payments are more favourable, with 25% thinking that businesses should adapt to modern payment methods and whilst 28% finding it ‘inconvenient’ when a business doesn’t accept digital payments.
A further 11% of people even say that cash-only businesses wouldn’t be an option they’d consider, and would actually avoid them wherever possible.
Only 5% use cash as their preferred method of payment / Credit: Rawpixel
When it comes to concerns around digital payment methods, where do Mancs stand then? Well, the survey found that a third (33%) of people are worried about their reliance on technology, especially being unable to pay if their phone dies, for example, while an additional 32% of people are concerned about security risks such as hacking, fraud, or stolen card details.
Among other things, 26% of survey respondents also said they worry about the privacy aspect of digital banking and the tracking your data.
“While debit and credit cards continue to dominate as the preferred payment method, it’s clear that cash is slowly declining in use, particularly among younger generations,” Corin Camenisch, who is the Marketing & Growth Lead at SumUp, commented on the report.
“Looking ahead, we can anticipate a rise in innovative payment methods like digital wallets, especially as younger consumers increasingly embrace the convenience and flexibility they offer.”
Featured Image – Pavel Danilyuk (via Pexels)
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Met Office predicts UK is set for ‘hotter than average’ summer
Emily Sergeant
The Met Office is predicting that the UK is set for a ‘hotter than average’ summer this year.
Fresh off-the-back of the news that 2025 is already the hottest spring on record, with a recorded 630 hours of sunshine from 1 March until 27 May, beating out the previous sunniest spring in 2020 by just four hours, the Met Office is now predicting that the UK is on the verge of a summer that’s ‘hotter than usual’.
According to its three-month outlook, the Met Office has predicted that it’s 2.3 times more-likely than ‘normal’ that it will be hot in the UK between 1 June and 31 August.
The average temperatures during those months are set to range from 10-17°C.
🌡️ ☀️ The UK has recorded its warmest and sunniest spring on record, according to provisional Met Office statistics.
Spring 2025 is now the 4th sunniest season overall for the UK, with only 3 summers sunnier since 1910.
Details in release below, or read this short thread 👇🧵
After it was revealed that this has also been the UK’s driest spring in more than a century, meteorologists are warning Brits that there could heatwave conditions could be reached at various times throughout the summer.
The release of the long-range forecast – which gives an indication of possible temperatures, rainfall, and wind speed over a period as a whole – comes after temperatures soared to 8°C (46F) above the average for this time of year this Saturday just gone (31 May).
It is important to note, however, that the Met Office thinks these predicted temperatures are similar to those in recent years, and it does not guarantee ‘prolonged’ hot weather.
The Met Office is predicting that the UK is set for ‘hotter than average’ summer this year / Credit: Mylo Kaye (via Unsplash)
The Met Office said in a statement: “While the current three-month outlook shows an increased chance of a hot summer, the temperature signals for this summer are similar to those for recent years and consistent with our warming climate.
“The increased chance of hotter than average temperatures is not a guarantee of prolonged hot weather or heatwaves, but it does mean that heatwave conditions could be reached at times.
“However, it’s important to bear in mind that an increased chance of hot conditions could also reflect a mix of hot and cool days, warm nights, or less extreme levels of warmth rather than continual heatwave conditions specifically.”
Emily Sergeant -
8th January 2024 
