Views of NHS website heat health advice almost triples as temperatures soar

Visits to the heat exhaustion advice webpage on the NHS website have almost tripled in the past few days as temperatures surge in England. The UK recorded its hottest day of the year so far on Tuesday and yellow heat health alerts were put into place until Friday 2nd August.

Analysis by NHS England, which runs the nhs.uk website, shows that on 29 and 30 July there were 21,112 visits to the heat exhaustion page, compared with 7,838 over the weekend (27 and 28 July) – a 169% increase.

Searches peaked on Tuesday with 11,986 visits – an average of one visit every seven seconds.

Heat exhaustion does not usually need emergency medical help if you can cool down within 30 minutes but if it turns into heatstroke, it needs to be treated as an emergency.

The NHS is urging the public to use services as they normally would– with NHS 111 services available for urgent needs, and 999 for emergencies.

Chief Nursing Officer for England Duncan Burton said: “We’ve seen a considerable increase in the number of people coming to the NHS website for heat-related health advice. The NHS website includes advice on how to stay cool, the symptoms of heat exhaustion, what to do if someone is affected and when to seek medical advice.

“People should continue to use 999 in life-threatening emergencies and NHS 111 – via the NHS App, online, or by phone – for other health concerns”.

Signs of heat exhaustion include tiredness, dizziness, headache, feeling sick, sweating, or clammy skin, cramps, fast breathing or heartbeat, a high temperature, being very thirsty and feeling weak.

If someone is showing signs of heat exhaustion, they need to be cooled down and given fluids. The NHS advises moving them to a cool place, removing unnecessary clothing, giving them a rehydration drink or cool water and cooling their skin with water, a fan or cold packs wrapped in a cloth.

If their condition doesn’t start to improve after 30 minutes of resting in a cool place, call 999.

The NHS website is the UK’s biggest health website with an estimated 2.1 million visits a day in 2023 from people seeking information and advice. It includes over 4,000 pages and provides information about 990 medical conditions, as well other health services including applying for a free UK Global Health Insurance Card, finding a GP, and a pregnancy due date calculator.

For more information, visit the heat exhaustion and heatstroke page on the NHS website.