More deaths of elderly people relating to hot weather, a longer hay fever season, and more people with asthma are just some of the public health implications of climate change predicted for the United Kingdom by a detailed report published today by the Health Protection Agency.1

There will also be more flooding, more ultraviolet light, and a greater potential for exotic, disease carrying mosquitoes to invade the UK, says the HPA’s report, unveiled at its annual conference in Warwick.

Temperatures in the UK have been rising by around 0.25°C a decade since the 1960s, while the amount of summer rainfall has decreased and that of winter rainfall has increased. It is predicted that the mean average temperature will rise by another 2°C to 5°C by 2080 and that heat waves will become more frequent. Southern-central and eastern England are expected to see the largest temperatures rises, with rises being most pronounced in urban areas.

Currently around 2000 people die prematurely in the UK a year …