June's heatwave led to 24 million lost hours of work and a £1.15 billion hit to the UK economy, researchers have estimated. Three official heatwaves have already happened this year, with temperatures provisionally peaking at 37.7C on June 26.
Survey findings on heat impact
Researchers at the London School of Economics and the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC) surveyed a nationally representative group of 1,950 adults across the UK about how the extreme heat impacted their working hours, ability to sleep and any changes to how they travelled to work or their working environment. The survey related to the week beginning June 22 this year.
Nearly 4% of respondents, equivalent to approximately 1.25 million workers in the population, did not work at all that week because of the heat. This is equivalent to an additional eight million lost hours, at an estimated cost to the economy of £0.38 billion.
Health and economic consequences
The £1 billion-plus in lost output is on top of the negative impacts on workers’ health and increased pressure on health services. Nearly nine in 10 workers (87%) reported at least one health-related impact during the week, ranging from disrupted sleep to dizziness or fainting. The survey also found that 5% of respondents sought medical attention and around 3% reported an accident or injury at work during that week, and around two-thirds of them felt it was linked to the weather.
Elizabeth Robinson, director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, said: “Our findings point to a country that remains insufficiently adapted to the changing climate. The Government cannot continue to ignore extreme heat. Unless it acts now, and makes workplaces safer, we are likely to see growing impacts on workers’ productivity, health, and the economy.”
Inequalities in the workforce
Shouro Dasgupta, environmental economist at the CMCC, said: “While £1 billion is lost overall, the greatest effects are borne by outdoor workers and those in physically demanding jobs, many of whom are among the lowest-paid in the labour force. Extreme heat is widening existing inequalities in the labour force.”
