A new official report suggests that global warming has been saving thousands of lives every year in Britain.
Rising temperatures have led to an average of 27,000 deaths in England and Wales each year over the past two decades.
The Office for National Statistics said warmer winters were ‘leading to a net decrease in deaths’ during what is traditionally the deadliest season.
Statisticsians have accounted for many other factors that can influence mortality, but they did not say Improved healthcare and better housing could be also playing a key role.
The report did warn that hospital admissions have risen in the past few summers because of hotter temperatures and more injuries.
The ONS said global warming was having ‘limited’ effect on health — but warned this could change if the UK faces extreme heat in the coming decades.
Although climate change does not have a significant impact on the UK right now, it is causing more deaths in other countries due to heatwaves.
These two decades were the most extreme since pre-industrial times. Ten of the highest temperatures ever recorded occurred during this period.

Above is the annual death toll from any cause (light blue), and climate-related (dark blue), every year since 2001. It is possible that the Covid pandemic may explain the increase at the bottom of the chart.

The following figures illustrate the deaths per 100,000 that are linked to four of the warmest months (light-green) or linked to climate (dark)
Between 1990 and 2020, the ONS analyzed millions of deaths. An estimated 76% were related to weather. This time period was 0.9C cooler than the past 30 years.
At the beginning of this century, an average of 992.7 deaths were associated with climate change for each 100,000 inhabitants.
The experimental analysis showed that this number had fallen to 831.4% for 100,000 in 2020.
According to the ONS, this is equivalent to 5555,000 less deaths in two decades or 27,000 fewer per year.
The downturn It was mostly due to a decrease in deaths caused by respiratory viruses or heart conditions, which can be affected by temperature.
These data include one year of Covid Pandemic. This may have led to some distortions in the data.
The number of deaths directly linked to cold weather dropped by 25,000 per year over the two decades analysed, such as those sparked by seasonal viruses and heart problems.
The number of people who died from heat-related illnesses dropped to 2,000.
According to the ONS, they wrote in their report: “We observed a relative decrease in deaths as a result of warmer weather, and an increase in deaths in colder months, which led to a net decrease.
“In contrast to this, there was an increase in hospitalizations due to warmer temperatures, particularly from injuries.
Previous research shows that warmer temperatures are linked to more severe injuries due to outdoor activities and increased violence. However, this trend is expected to continue.
“Our results are in line with past research, and they confirm that climate scientists have already predicted that warming will affect health in England as well as Wales.
“However the mortality impact of this is very limited.”
The World Health Organization states that warmer temperatures can cause more heat strokes, heat exhaustion, and other complications among people who are taking medication.
The climate change could also lead to heatwaves or severe storms.
The UK’s deaths from heat-related causes are continuing to decline, but hospitalisations are increasing.
According to the ONS, these admissions were due to more people being outside, and taking on risky activities rather than extreme heat.
The heat is already affecting hospitals.
In 2012 hospitals saw 12,000 more hospital admissions annually, directly tied to the rise in temperatures.
The rise has been driven by accidents from spending more time outdoors — rather than directly due to extreme heat.
The ONS however stated this would likely change in the future.

This graph shows how fatalities change due to warm and cold days.
Myer Glickman is the leader of the ONS’s climate change team. “We’re at the point that climate change hasn’t had a dramatic effect on mortality, but we already know that there’s a significant health impact and can predict what will happen in the coming decades.”
We already know 1.5C of warming is likely; changes are already affecting our health, even though it’s mild in the UK.
‘There’s no time for delay in reducing carbon emissions but at least there’s time for research and policies to mitigate impact in the UK before things get much worse.’
Met Office statistics show that England and Wales enjoy almost two additional weeks of warmth – temperatures at or above 13.8C (56.8F), than in 1994.
Recent years have seen a plateau in the number cold days, which is below 43.5F or 6.4C. There are now more sunny days during winter.