Excess winter deaths rose by 29% last year from 2011-12

The number of excess winter deaths in England and Wales was an estimated 31 100 in 2012-13, nearly a third (29%) more than in the previous winter, when there were 24 200 deaths, show the latest statistics.

Deaths peaked in the first week of January 2013, coinciding with a peak incidence of influenza-like illness over the Christmas weeks, show the figures from the Office for National Statistics.1 But the mean number of daily deaths remained higher than average throughout February, March (when the number was 14% higher, or an average of 1582 deaths a day), and April (11% higher) 2013, when temperatures were lower than average. March 2013 was the coldest since 1962, with an average monthly temperature of just 2.6°C.

Most deaths (82%) occurred in people aged …