June heatwave 'cost economy more than £1bn' as government urged to 'act now'

June heatwave 'cost economy more than £1bn' as government urged to 'act now' During last month's heatwave record breaking temperatures reached 37.7°C surpassing the previous record of 35.6°C set at Southampton in June 1976 Last month’s heatwave led to 24 million lost hours of work and cost the UK economy £1.15 billion, research suggests. During last month's heatwave record breaking temperatures reached 37.7°C at Lingwood, Strumpshaw Hill on 26 June, surpassing the previous record of 35.6°C set at Southampton in June 1976. Workers across the country were forced to take time off or adjust their hours during the week beginning June 22. The heatwave marked the second of three to hit western Europe in just three months this year, causing escalating impacts on health, infrastructure, water resources, farming and wildlife. The average reported reduction in hours worked across the last week of June in the UK was 0.47 hours, according to a survey analysis led by the London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change (CMCC). For the study published on Thursday, the researchers asked a nationally representative sample of 1,950 British adults about how the heatwave affected working hours, ability to sleep and any changes to their working routine during the week. The team estimated the economic cost of lost output driven by the heatwave based on the workers’ responses about adjustments they had to make. They found that those working in physically demanding jobs that are more highly exposed to heat in sectors such as construction and agriculture reduced their hours by more than those working in low-exposure and physically undemanding jobs such as academia. Findings from the survey also show 3.6% of respondents – equivalent to approximately 1.25 million workers in the population – did not work at all that week because of the heat. This suggests there could have been an additional eight million lost hours – at an estimated cost to the economy of £0.38 billion. Elsewhere, 87% of the respondents reported at least one health-related impact during the week, ranging from disrupted sleep and being more tired at work through to a small number of workers reporting more extreme symptoms including dizziness or fainting and a faster heartbeat. The survey also found that 5% of respondents sought medical attention and around 3% reported an accident or injury at work during that week, with around two-thirds of them feeling it was linked to the weather. Elizabeth Robinson, director of the Grantham Research Institute, 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.” Shouro Dasgupta, environmental economist at the CMCC and visiting senior fellow at the Grantham Research Institute, 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.”