UK Heat Wave Could Claim Nearly 600 Lives This Week, Experts Warn
Scientists have warned the elderly and other vulnerable groups in the UK are at risk of heat-related deaths this weekend, as a new study shows recent high temperatures could claim 570 lives in just over four days.
Researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Imperial College London published on Saturday a real-time analysis calculating the number of heat-related deaths expected from Thursday to Sunday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Was '28 Years Later' worth the wait? Beauty in the frightening madness of zombie movie
It's been 23 years since Danny Boyle and Alex Garland collaborated on 28 Days Later, and with such a large gap in films, a big question for 28 Years Later has been whether it can reinvigorate the excitement of the first. Starring Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes, Jack O'Connell and Alfie Williams, the new movie feels electric. It's becoming increasingly more difficult to really feel surprised by a movie, with so many clinging to familiar and beloved plot points and storytelling elements. But 28 Years Later is able to fully shock and surprise. 28 Years Later release date: June 20Director: Danny BoyleWriter: Alex GarlandCast: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Alfie Williams, Ralph Fiennes, Jack O'ConnellRuntime: 115 minutes It's been, as the title states, almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory and decimated the U.K., prompting a strict quarantine. A small group of survivors live on an island, connected to the mainland by a causeway, which can only be crossed during a low tide. The film is focused on 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams), who we meet on his first day of an excursion to the mainland with his father Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). It's a rite of passage for Spike to take the intimidating journey for his "first kill," as he says goodbye to his sick mother Isla (Jodie Comer), who suffers from a condition that's impacted her both physically and cognitively. While on the hunt Spike finds out about Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) and hopes that he could help his ailing mother. Jamie is adamant that won't be the case, but Spike doesn't listen and travels back with his mother to reach Dr. Kelson on the mainland. Garland and Boyle certainly aren't giving us the expected with 28 Years Later. The film is firmly planted in the horror genre, while including rich commentary on modern society, without sacrificing any off the gruesome elements. The first portion of the movie is largely focused on intense chase scenes and terrifying zombie surprises with the introduction of the Alphas. The naked creatures are some of the most terrifying zombies we've gotten in a long time, while the film also suggests that the zombies may not be as mindless as many believe. Boyle's direction takes a brisk pace through the film. It feels sharp and impactful with a really satisfying execution of something thrillingly chaotic. Using elements like stock footage of British soldiers and clips of other films, it adds to the startling nature of the movie. Notably, the movie was filmed on iPhones, an evolution from the digital cameras used in the first film, as Boyle provides terrifying frenzied shots, in addition to breathtaking images of the landscape. As we get deeper into the story, there's more time spent on the film's examination od humanity, including our relationship with death and questions about the ecosystem, while adding a sprinkling of dark comedy. But that's what Garland does well, he adds a compelling richness to films while making room for visual impact, and creating a foundation to elevate both elements. While some may think 28 Years Later is too wacky for them, while the story could have more cohesion overall, there's no denying the spectacle of the film as we lean into the feeling of dread throughout the story.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Rantzen warns peers not to hamper progress of assisted dying law
Assisted dying campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen has urged members of the House of Lords not to block landmark legislation on the issue. The Terminally Ill Adults (End Of Life) Bill cleared the Commons with a majority of 23 votes on Friday, but opponents have vowed to continue their resistance in the unelected chamber. The legislation could face a difficult passage through the Lords, with critics poised to table amendments to add further restrictions and safeguards to the Bill. Dame Esther told BBC Radio 4's Today: 'I don't need to teach the House of Lords how to do their job. They know it very well, and they know that laws are produced by the elected chamber. 'Their job is to scrutinise, to ask questions, but not to oppose. 'So yes, people who are adamantly opposed to this bill, and they have a perfect right to oppose it, will try and stop it going through the Lords, but the Lords themselves, their duty is to make sure that law is actually created by the elected chamber, which is the House of Commons who have voted this through.' Dame Esther, who turns 85 on Sunday and has terminal cancer, acknowledged the legislation would probably not become law in time for her to use it and she would have to 'buzz of to Zurich' to use the Dignitas clinic. Paralympian and crossbench peer Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson told BBC Breakfast: 'We're getting ready for it to come to the Lord's and from my personal point of view, about amending it to make it stronger. 'We've been told it's the strongest Bill in the world, but to be honest, it's not very high bar for other legislation. 'So I do think there are a lot more safeguards that could be put in.' Conservative peer and disability rights campaigner Lord Shinkwin said the narrow Commons majority underlined the need for peers to take a close look at the legislation. He told Today 'I think the House of Lords has a duty to expose and to subject this Bill to forensic scrutiny' but 'I don't think it's a question of blocking it so much as performing our duty as a revising chamber'. He added: 'The margin yesterday was so close that many MPs would appreciate the opportunity to look at this again in respect of safeguards as they relate to those who feel vulnerable, whether that's disabled people or older people.' Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who steered the Bill through the Commons, told the PA news agency she hoped peers would not seek to derail the legislation, which could run out of parliamentary time if it is held up in the Lords. She said: 'I would be upset to think that anybody was playing games with such an important and such an emotional issue.' A group of 27 Labour MPs who voted against the legislation said: 'We were elected to represent both of those groups and are still deeply concerned about the risks in this Bill of coercion of the old and discrimination against the disabled, people with anorexia and black, Asian and minority ethnic people, who we know do not receive equitable health care. 'As the Bill moves to the House of Lords it must receive the scrutiny that it needs. Not about the principles of assisted dying but its application in this deeply flawed Bill.' Meanwhile, one of the leading opponents of the Bill, Conservative Danny Kruger, said 'these are apocalyptic times'. In a series of tweets on Friday night, the East Wiltshire MP – who is at odds with his mother, Great British Bake Off judge Dame Prue Leith in her support for legalisation – accused assisted dying campaigners of being 'militant anti-Christians' who had failed to 'engage with the detail of the Bill'.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Nearly 600 heat-related deaths expected in UK heatwave, researchers estimate
Nearly 600 people in England and Wales are predicted to die as a result of this week's heatwave, researchers have found. Experts at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Imperial College London used decades of UK data to predict excess mortality during the hot temperatures from Thursday to Sunday. Their study, released on Saturday, forecasts that around 570 people will die because of the heat over the four days. The excess deaths are estimated to peak at 266 on Saturday when the heat will be at its most intense. London is predicted to have the greatest number of excess deaths with 129. The researchers said their assessment highlights how extreme heat poses a growing threat to public health in the UK. It follows a World Weather Attribution (WWA) research group study published on Friday which found the heatwave has been made about 100 times more likely and 2-4C hotter due to climate change. Dr Garyfallos Konstantinoudis, lecturer at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, said: 'Heatwaves are silent killers – people who lose their lives in them typically have pre-existing health conditions and rarely have heat listed as a contributing cause of death. 'This real-time analysis reveals the hidden toll of heatwaves and we want it to help raise the alarm. 'Heatwaves are an underappreciated threat in the UK and they're becoming more dangerous with climate change.' Dr Konstantinoudis warned that people should follow heat-health advice this weekend and check on older people, particularly those living alone. Temperatures had been forecast to hit 32C across the South East on Saturday and had already reached that level on Thursday in London. The UK Health Security Agency issued an amber heat-health alert covering all of England to warn vulnerable populations of the health risks, including 'a rise in deaths'. Dozens of people required treatment for heat-related illness at Royal Ascot on Thursday. The researchers used findings from published research on the relationship between heat and the number of daily deaths, regardless of the cause, in 34,753 areas of England and Wales. They combined these with high-resolution weather forecasts from the Copernicus climate change service to estimate how many heat-related deaths will occur. They estimated that 114 excess deaths would have occurred on Thursday, 152 on Friday, 266 on Saturday and 37 deaths on Sunday, when temperatures will fall to the mid-20s. People above 65 are expected to be hardest hit, with 488 of the estimated excess deaths, the report said. But the experts also warn that heat can be life-threatening for all ages, with 82 deaths estimated for people aged under 65. They also note that the analysis does not account for the effect of the heatwave occurring early in summer before people are acclimatised to hot temperatures, meaning deaths could be underestimated. A recent report by the UK Climate Change Committee estimated that heat-related deaths could rise to more than 10,000 in an average year by 2050 if fossil fuel burning causes warming to reach 2C. UN scientists warned this week that the world is in 'crunch time' to limit warming and has three years left to prevent global average temperature rises exceeding 1.5C. Professor Antonio Gasparrini, of the LSHTM, said: 'Increases of just a degree or two can be the difference between life and death. 'Every fraction of a degree of warming will cause more hospital admissions and heat deaths, putting more strain on the NHS.' Dr Malcolm Mistry, assistant professor at the LSHTM, said: 'Exposure to temperatures in the high 20s or low 30s may not seem dangerous, but they can be fatal, particularly for people aged over 65, infants, pregnant people and those with pre-existing health conditions. 'Unless effective mitigation and adaptive measures are put in place in the coming years, the risk of large heat-related death events is set to increase in the UK – we have a large ageing population and warming is expected to increase to 2C by 2050 and as high as 3C this century.' Dr Lorna Powell, an NHS urgent care doctor in east London who was not involved in the study, said: 'We are seeing cases of heat-related illnesses rising in our urgent care departments. 'Heat exhaustion can quickly trigger more serious illnesses as dehydration sets in and the cardiovascular system becomes overwhelmed.'
