Earlier this month the cold snap across Europe claimed more than 60 lives. In Poland temperatures fell to below -30°C in some regions and 10 people died of the cold on 8 January alone. Meanwhile in Greece and Turkey refugees and homeless people suffered greatly in the unseasonably heavy snow. The sad thing is that almost all of these deaths were preventable.
Every winter hypothermia extends its icy grip, causing 25,000 extra deaths per year in England for example. A decrease in air temperature of 1°C causes a 1.35% increase in mortality across Europe, and added up over the years, cold weather has caused far more deaths than any single heatwave event.
Medically, hypothermia is defined as when the body’s core temperature drops below 35°C, bringing about changes in the composition of the blood and raising the risk of cardiovascular diseases, among other things. Older people are particularly vulnerable, along with children and people suffering from other diseases. So how can we better protect people?
A new study carried out in the Lublin region of Poland has analysed what kind of interventions seemed to have the greatest effect. The results, published in the journal Weather, show that it isn’t just the severe cold snaps that we need to worry about. In fact around 70% of cases in their study occurred early in the winter (between October and December), which they speculate may relate to people being less adapted to the cold, and less prepared.
All of us need to dig out our hats, gloves and winter woollies far earlier, and European health authorities need to start taking preventative action from September, they suggest.
