Climate change: Heat deaths could triple by 2050

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Without government action on overheating in our homes, heat-related deaths will triple over the next 30 years.

There is a red extreme heat warning in the UK and potentially life-threatening record highs as far north as York.

According to a recent survey, there are as many as 4.5 million homes in England that are prone to overheating.

Rules governing overheating in new buildings were not in place until this summer.

The Climate Change Committee has been telling the government for 10 years that the UK is not prepared for hot weather.

The overheating risk in people's homes needs to be addressed.

More than half a million new homes in the UK are liable to overheating, according to the Climate Change Committee.

Climate change is making heatwaves more likely according to scientific research.

In 2020, heat waves caused an additional 2,000 deaths.

The government only requires new build homes to be tested for overheating in June because of the health risk from heat inside.

The lack of regulation can be seen in the country's housing stock.

"We've seen buildings that don't cope well with the increased temperatures we now experience in summer."

There is a problem in new build flats in the city.

Building with a lot of glass isn't the best way to flow air through corridors.

He could be talking about the place.

Outside of Manchester's city centre, she lives in a building next to a canal.

When the weather is warm, the flat becomes a greenhouse.

She is worried that it will get even hotter this week.

She told me that she was getting cooked all day. The only breeze I have is from the fan which is regurgitating the hot air.

The bedroom can be warm. Ice packs are sometimes used to keep cool.

She says the temperatures in her home are making her sick.

She used to sleep in the hallway to escape the heat.

The scale of the health risk is difficult to assess.

Asthma, heart disease and mental illness can be made worse by heat stress.

The symptoms of heatstroke can be difficult to distinguish from other conditions.

It's difficult for coroners and medical professionals to assess how big of a health hazard heat is because it's not mentioned as a factor on death certificates.

It will take years for the rules on overheating in new homes to make an impact, and that the government needs to act to reduce the risk in millions of existing homes.

She says that there is no policy for the existing building stock or for permitted development where office blocks are turned into homes. There will probably be a tripling of heat related deaths in this country if we don't take more action.

Professor Kevin Lomas has spent more than two decades studying overheating in British homes and he says retrofitting homes can be very expensive.

Many homes will need new windows or air conditioning, according to him.

Simple measures like closing windows and curtains during the heat of the day and opening them at night can provide some immediate help.

The problem is not going to go away.

Dr Friederike Otto is a senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London.

She says that the fossil fuels we have burned have made the weather hotter.

According to Dr Vikki Thompson, a climate scientist at the University of Bristol, the hottest day of the year is almost 1C warmer than in the 70s.

Since 1961, the length of hot weather has doubled across Britain.

South-eastern England has seen the greatest change.