How to protect yourself from heat: WHO advice
Heat stress is the leading cause of weather-related deaths. Here are practical steps for vulnerable groups before the hot days arrive.
- The World Health Organisation says heat stress is the leading cause of weather-related deaths.
- Across 35 European countries, heat claimed more than 60,000 lives in 2022 and 47,500 in 2023.
- The most at risk are older people, infants and children, outdoor workers, chronic patients and pregnant women.
- The advice is not to wait until you feel thirsty, but to drink smaller amounts of fluid regularly throughout the day.
Can heat be as dangerous as an illness? It can, and seriously so. The World Health Organisation says heat stress is the leading cause of weather-related deaths, and the figures for our continent are far from small. Across 35 European countries, heat claimed more than 60,000 lives in 2022 and 47,500 in 2023.
The reason we are writing about this now, before the first hot days arrive, is simple. The right time to prepare is while it is still cool, not when the thermometer already shows a number you would rather not see.
Who is most at risk?
Heat does not affect everyone equally. The most at risk are older people, infants and children, those who work outdoors, chronic patients and pregnant women. If you have a grandparent living alone, or a small baby at home, they are first on the list to look after.
In these groups the body struggles to regulate its temperature, so the problem sets in before they notice it. That is why help often has to come from the outside, from family and neighbours, rather than waiting for someone to ask for water themselves.
Without further adaptation, by 2050 there could be up to 120,000 heat-related deaths a year in the European region. That is not a distant forecast, it is a reason to change habits this very summer.
How can you protect yourself from heat?
The most important piece of advice may also be the simplest: do not wait to feel thirsty. The recommendation is to drink smaller amounts of fluid regularly throughout the day, rather than making up for everything at once when your mouth is already dry. Thirst is a sign that the body is late, not a reminder that it is time for the first glass.
A small routine helps. A glass of water after every time you get up, one before and one after a walk, a bottle on your desk that stays in sight. For older family members a useful trick is to keep water always within reach, because that way they drink without being reminded.
Our advice is to think about these habits for others too, not just yourself. One call to a neighbour who lives alone, or a quick check on how a child spent the day in the sun, costs you a minute.
What are the state and the system doing?
Protection is not only a personal matter. The World Health Organisation recommends heat-health action plans with early warning systems that alert people in time when dangerous days are coming.
That means warnings should be taken seriously. When a heatwave is announced, it is a signal to adjust the plans for that day, not to brush it off as one more item in the news.
This summer, will you keep a bottle of water in sight and remind an older person to drink regularly?
