Met Office issues amber snow warnings for northern England

Several amber snow warnings were issued by the Met Office National Severe Weather Warning Service for some areas in the north of England from 3 January 2025 until 12 January 2025, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). The warnings fell within the third cold episode of winter 2024 to 2025, which ran for six days from 7 January to 12 January 2025¹.

A cold episode is defined in the report as a period of two or more consecutive days where the average daily mean temperature across England was below 2°C, in line with the threshold for issuing a yellow Cold Health Alert (CHA)¹. The UKHSA found three such episodes in winter 2024 to 2025, comprising a total of 11 days¹. The first lasted two days, from 20 to 21 November 2024, when an amber CHA was in place in the North East, North West, Yorkshire and The Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands and East of England, with a yellow CHA in London, the South East and the South West. The second lasted three days, from 2 to 4 January 2025, with an amber CHA issued on 2 January for all regions of England and remaining in place until 14 January 2025¹.

During the third episode, all regions of England had an amber CHA in place, and the amber snow warnings were issued for some areas in the north of England¹. The UKHSA estimates that 1,630 cold-associated deaths occurred in the third episode (95% confidence interval 1,266 to 1,991), the highest of the three, compared with 421 in the first and 738 in the second¹.

The report, the first annual cold mortality monitoring report published by the UKHSA, estimates that 2,788 cold-associated deaths occurred across the three episodes in England (95% confidence interval 2,149 to 3,438). Of these, 1,600 were directly associated with cold weather, independent of influenza circulation, and 1,188 were linked to cold weather causing increases in influenza infection¹. The report was corrected on 22 October 2026 after an error in identifying which dates met the cold episode definition; the total was previously given as 2,544, an increase of 10%, and the figure for the second episode was previously 493, an increase of 50%¹.

Why it matters for households

The report covers England only¹. It records that cold-associated deaths occurred in care homes, hospitals, people's own homes and hospices, and that the strongest relationship between cold weather and mortality was seen in adults aged 85 and over, with differences observed by sex¹. Statistically significant cold-associated mortality was seen in all regions except the North East; when adjusted for population size, the East of England had the highest rate at 69 deaths per million population, followed by the North West and East Midlands¹. The report also states that vulnerability to cold weather episodes has increased when comparing the relationship between temperature and mortality in the recent five-year period against the previous five-year period¹.

The UKHSA describes the publication as "official statistics in development"¹. The Met Office publishes guidance on what yellow, amber and red warnings mean in its weather warnings guide, and on signing up for its alerts in how to sign up for Met Office weather alerts. Households can find practical preparation guidance in getting your home ready for cold weather and ice and the storms and snow hub, with further information on official sources in the staying informed hub.

What happens next

The report was published on 18 February 2026 and corrected on 22 October 2026¹. No further updates to the report have been reported.