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RECENT TWEETS

Feeling the heat

August 01 2026
© John Joseph Sheehy MacSheehy © John Joseph Sheehy MacSheehy

How effective are council efforts to protect and support people experiencing homelessness during a heatwave? Investigation by Liam Geraghty and the Pavement team

A heatwave can be uncomfortable for most of us but if you’re homeless on the street then it can be a matter of life and death.

People sleeping rough during heatwaves are receiving inconsistent support from councils, a joint-investigation from Big Issue and the Pavement magazine has revealed.

On 25 May the hottest temperature ever recorded in May in the UK was registered in London. The very next day, the record was broken once again when a temperature of 35.1C was registered in Kew Gardens in London.

Following the unprecedented heatwave, the Pavement magazine and Big Issue teamed up to find out how councils responded to help homeless people through the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP).

SWEP governs how local authorities take action to support rough sleepers, usually getting them off the streets and into emergency shelters.

It’s most commonly called for in cold weather, but councils may take action when heavy rain or high winds pose a threat to life as well as, of course, extreme heat.

Using Freedom of Information requests, we asked some of the councils with the biggest rough sleeping populations across England, based on official rough sleeping counts, how they responded to May’s heatwave.

Temperature records have been smashed since, of course.

For those outside, the recorded temperature doesn’t tell the story. In June, Greenpeace used thermal cameras to record the temperature of central London’s pavements. The results showed temperatures exceeding 60C. Holborn sizzled at a surface temperature of 65C captured by the thermal camera, while Oxford Street and nearby roads were all recorded in an unbearable window of between 50-60C.

The hottest day ever recorded in the UK during June hit new heights with temperatures reaching 37.7C on 26 June. The Met Office had issued a Red Extreme Heat Warning to people across the UK ahead of the heatwave, indicating danger to life. Government advice suggests people keep their homes cool and avoid the sun when it is strongest, while taking care to stay hydrated and “wear loose clothing made from breathable natural fabrics.”

Good advice, sure, but for many people it is hard to follow. What happens when you don’t have a home? When it’s a struggle to find shelter from the sun and when your wardrobe isn’t kitted out with light, natural fabrics?

Our research found that local authorities in England are struggling to provide sufficient care for people experiencing homelessness and sleeping rough in a heatwave.


A hot topic

Around 40 Freedom of Information requests were submitted to English councils and London boroughs for the investigation, asking what action was taken on the week commencing 25 May and what support was provided.

Responses revealed one of the main issues with SWEP in England is that each local authority has its own protocol for engaging with vulnerable people, including those experiencing homelessness. There is no dedicated central funding for SWEP.

The result is a strange postcode lottery effect, with differing responses and services from council to council.
London boroughs generally operate SWEP during extreme heat, with the exception of Hounslow, which said it doesn’t formally activate SWEP during the summer months.

This conspicuous exception was the norm among local authorities outside of London with the highest figures of people sleeping rough. In Brighton, Cornwall, Leeds, Nottingham and Somerset, SWEP was not active during the May heatwave.
Brighton & Hove City Council reasoned that SWEP could not be activated as the temperature didn’t surpass the threshold of 30C. 

Troublingly, the only local authorities in London that provide emergency accommodation – albeit reserved only for those deemed to be most vulnerable and usually contingent on numerous conditions being met – during a heatwave are Camden, Croydon, Haringey, Greenwich, Sutton, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.

The remaining respondents allude to the availability of “cool spaces”. Outside of London, support boiled down to outreach teams offering rough sleepers some sun cream, bottled water and the option of advice.

The importance of accommodation during these periods of extreme weather was made clear by Met Office deputy chief forecaster Mark Sidaway. He said there were several consecutive nights during the May heatwave where temperatures did not drop below 20C, which is called a tropical night. He added: “This will make it very hard for people to recover from the daytime heat, exacerbating the heat stress impacts.”

The overall picture is difficult to piece together. A jigsaw puzzle that doesn’t match up.

Neighbouring authorities are activating SWEP on different days, running services for longer or shorter periods and the contents of those services differ from one place to the next. And that’s just London: local authorities in England with high numbers of people sleeping rough are failing to grasp the impact and severity of the increasingly extreme heat beating down on the UK.


Time for action

As June’s heatwave came into full force, Matt Downie, chief executive of Crisis, called on all local authorities and London boroughs to invoke SWEP.

“Rough sleeping has always been a public health emergency, but in this intense heat lives are at imminent risk,” he said.

“It reinforces the urgent need for us to end homelessness and ensure everyone has a safe, secure home.”

Later that week, Big Issue interviewed mayor of London Sadiq Khan. He said that he was “really worried” about the impact of hot weather on the “most vulnerable Londoners”.

But he declined to call a pan-London SWEP during the heatwave, instead allowing local authorities to make their own calls.

“Historically, we’ve always thought about helping rough sleepers when it’s cold, for obvious reasons, around Christmas time,” he told Big Issue. “But actually, because heatwaves are becoming a norm, the new reality, we’ve got to repivot our minds to also think about summer as well.”

It’s a familiar story. Museum of Homelessness’ investigation into how councils responded to protect people experiencing homelessness during extreme weather found a patchy response.

The investigation, published exclusively with Big Issue, found only 53% of the councils they quizzed put in measures to respond to extreme heat. That paled in comparison to responses to sub-zero temperatures, while there was no evidence that heavy winds and rain sparked SWEP action.

As extreme weather becomes more frequent and lasts for longer, so grows the need for action on SWEP. As does the financial burden on cash-strapped councils.

But, with a record-high 4,793 people counted as sleeping rough across England in last autumn’s official count, heat will continue to pose a threat to life.

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