The UK has already experienced five heatwaves in 2026, with a potential sixth expected in September. In response, The Physiological Society has released a new report, Climate change-driven extreme heat, occupational health and productivity: A need for human-centred policy in the UK, examining how climate-driven heat is affecting workers’ health and productivity.
The report was developed with input from a panel of UK and international experts in thermal and occupational physiology, climate change, workforce health and safety, and public policy.
Key recommendations
The report calls on the government and policymakers to
- Set targets for extreme heat that take wider physiological risk factors into account
- Update regulations to provide legal protection for workers’ health and productivity during periods of extreme heat
- Provide physiologically informed guidance to help employers protect workers from heat risks while maintaining productivity
- Support further research into how extreme heat affects productivity, health, and workplace safety
- Coordinate public health messaging across the UK’s four nations to improve understanding of how physiological resilience to heat can benefit worker health and productivity
The economic and health toll
The UK Climate Change Committee has identified increasingly extreme and frequent heatwaves as the greatest health risk the country faces from climate change. Heat-related impacts already cost the UK’s health sector £538 million a year, a figure that could rise by 245% by the 2050s.
The World Health Organization estimates that productivity falls by 2% for every 1°C rise above 20°C. In the UK, a 1°C increase in temperature could reduce the number of hours worked across the labour force by more than 100 million. In June 2026 alone, 24 million working hours were lost on days when temperatures exceeded 30°C, costing the economy more than £1.15 billion in lost output.
During the same period, 87% of healthcare workers surveyed by the Doctors’ Association UK said they felt physically unwell because of extreme heat, while 67% said patient safety was affected. Health staff and firefighters were pushed to their limits over the summer as they responded to the health and environmental impacts of the heatwaves.
Beyond key workers, employees across all industries can be affected, particularly those in physically demanding roles, those wearing PPE, those working outdoors or in hot or humid environments, and those in industries with continuous or fixed operating hours. Heat exposure can cause dizziness, nausea, and headaches, while also impairing cognitive function and decision-making. These effects can prevent workers from performing their duties safely and increase the risk of workplace accidents.
Dr Josh Foster of King’s College London, Chair of the Physiological Society’s Extreme Heat in the Workplace Steering Group, said: “We can only develop effective interventions for all workers if we understand how heat and other factors affect an individual’s ability to remain safe, healthy, and productive in hot environments. This report demonstrates how heat impacts the body and gives examples of solutions to mitigate those effects. It is my hope that the launch of this report acts as a springboard for continued engagement between physiology, policy, and industrial partnerships.”
Writing in the report’s foreword, Julia King, Baroness Brown of Cambridge, Chair of the Adaptation Committee of the Climate Change Committee, wrote: “Simple, cost effective solutions can protect workers from extreme heat, but only if they are empowered with both the information and agency to make their workplaces safer, supported by legislation, regulations, and employer behaviour.”
Current UK policy still treats extreme heat as an infrequent risk primarily affecting vulnerable groups, rather than the system-wide occupational hazard the report says it has become. Its authors argue that the UK is adapting more slowly than the climate is warming, leaving the workforce underprepared as heatwaves become more frequent, longer, and more intense.
The report’s launch, alongside a parliamentary event, aims to bring physiological evidence into the policy consultation process, with particular attention to workers facing multiple, overlapping vulnerabilities.