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More than 2,700 people may have died from heat-related causes in England and Wales during the exceptionally hot weather in May and June, experts' estimates suggest.

The figure, from a team at Imperial College London, the Met Office and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, is based on what's known about the dangers of extreme heat.

Most deaths will have occurred in the June heatwave, they say - the warmest June on record in England, when temperatures hit 37.7C (99.9F) at Lingwood, Norfolk, smashing the previous high of 35.6C set in 1957.

A rare red heat alert, external was issued for parts of England and Wales at the time, warning even healthy people of the significant risk to life.

Many UK homes are not built to cope, leaving people vulnerable to prolonged, high temperatures.

Heat puts immense physical strain on the body, made worse if you are dehydrated, with the heart pumping harder and faster to cool you off.

Babies and older people are among those most at risk of harm, as well as those with existing health conditions.

It can lead to more heart attacks, strokes and other potentially fatal emergencies.

Intense heat can affect anyone, including fit and healthy people, and is dubbed a 'silent killer' because early symptoms are easily overlooked.

And when the hot air is very wet or humid, like it was in June, it's more difficult for the body to cool down through sweating.

Prof Fredi Otto, an expert in climate science at Imperial who was involved in the research, told the BBC's Today Programme: "Don't underestimate the risks. Just because you're fit and healthy, you're not safe."

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Source: BBC News, 13 July 2026

As he speaks, there’s fear in Grant McPherson’s eyes.

“You won’t make me go back, Dad. Horrible. Nasty. They hurt me dad. Stay here.”

Grant, 48, is in the living room of the specially adapted house he shares with his father Leonard McPherson in Wolverhampton. He has cerebral palsy, sight impairment, epilepsy, a learning disability and uses a wheelchair due to paralysis following a spinal operation as a child.

Grant and his father are happy. But they have endured years of heartache in their bid to be reunited at their family home.

Leonard is one of hundreds of people across the country who have faced ongoing battles to advocate for their vulnerable loved ones in care after raising concerns about their treatment.

During five years trapped in council-sponsored accommodation, Leonard says Grant suffered physically and mentally. Among the roll call of injuries, Grant suffered a severely broken leg, contracted two life threatening infections and was burnt twice – the second time so severely that he spent three months in hospital.

But, as Grant was moved between different council care, it was his father Leonard who was put under scrutiny when he asked to remove Grant from care and take him home instead. Incredibly, Leonard was also gagged with legal orders, meaning he could not talk publicly about his struggle to bring his son home.

Leonard was on the cusp of being restricted to seeing Grant for just one hour a week – an issue the government has now vowed to crack down on – when a judge finally agreed that Grant could return home to live with his father.

This is not an isolated case, with concerns raised nationally about draconian conditions placed on parents and guardians, preventing them from advocating for their children, with restrictions often put on visiting rights.

Earlier this year, the government vowed to crack down on care companies and councils that ban families from visiting vulnerable relatives and promised to improve visitation rights.

The chief inspector of the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of health and social care in England, also admitted that care companies who look after people with learning disabilities need to be inspected “more consistently and more regularly”.

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Source: The Independent, 11 July 2026