Cold Weather will Kill Elderly People This Year
TheWeatherOutlook, one of the UK’s leading weather forecasters, predicts that there’s going to be a 50% chance of snow this Winter. Even if many of us don’t end up seeing snow this year, we willdefinitelybe in for a colder than normal Winter. Not what we want to hear when we look at our heating bills.
This Autumn was relatively mild, we only experienced a higher than average rainfall. However, as we get into Winter, the weather has started to change. We are now starting to see very cold conditions and this will come as a shock to many.
Almost 37,000 people died last year due to the cold spell that we had during Winter. This death toll was almost 50% higher than that of the previous year. Of those 37,000, over 90% were elderly as they are the least able to pay their heating bills and they are also the most likely to catch cold based diseases.
Now as we face another cold Winter, plus as we are still in a recession, it’s estimated that even more pensioners will die from the weather conditions this Winter. There are a number of methods of staying warm while paying less. The first would be the use of portable heaters which provides affordable heating without the need of central heating. A fan heater is another alternative to powering up the central heating. Thes portable heaters can provide an almost instant supply of cheap heat, however, they do require an electricity supply which will increase your electricty bill.
The final alternative would be the paraffin heater. These highly portable appliances are very cheap to run and require no wires. Many of the more modern units are quite stylish and provide a good source of heat. They also feature many safety features such as anti-topple features which switch the device off when toppled over.
Any of the above would help to reduce the death toll we see each Winter. Unfortunately there aren’t indoor patio heaters as these are a great source of heat. As for those of us that survive the Winter chill, we will be able to look ahead to what’s suggested to be the warmest summer ever.
