The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published the Adverse Weather and Health Plan (AWHP) on 27 April 2023, according to the agency's flooding health guidance collection1. The plan was added to that collection on the same date, listed in its update history as a link to the new document1.
The collection, first published on 1 February 2014 and last updated on 27 March 2025, sets out health guidance for professionals and the public on flooding. It states that "Flooding presents a number of risks to health. This guidance helps professionals and the public address those risks and clean up safely."1
The collection has been revised repeatedly since the plan was added. On 27 October 2023 the collection was updated; on 19 December 2023 guidance for frontline responders was added; on 13 March 2024 public advice for people living through a flood was added; and on 27 March 2025 flood-health action cards were added1. The agency's own update note records the plan's place in the collection:
"The UK Health Security Agency ( UKHSA ) published the Adverse Weather and Health Plan ( AWHP ) on 27 April 2023."
The collection now separates its material by audience, with pages for people living through a flood, for frontline responders, and flood-health action cards, alongside the plan itself1. The collection page does not set out the plan's contents, its regional scope or any thresholds for action; those details have not been reported in the pages reviewed.
Why it matters for households
The plan sits within official health guidance on flooding, which the agency says is intended to help the public as well as professionals address the health risks of flooding and clean up safely1. Households in areas at risk of flooding are the audience for the public advice page added to the collection in March 2024, while the responder guidance and action cards are aimed at services1. The collection does not itself give household-level instructions; it directs readers to the separate public advice page1. The plan's practical effect on households, including what changes for them and from when, has not been reported in the pages reviewed.
What happens next
No further publication or implementation dates are given in the collection beyond the update history above, the most recent entry being 27 March 20251.
The plan is described in the guide to the Adverse Weather and Health Plan: how services respond, which sits within the site's heatwaves and drought section and its wider UK preparedness coverage.
Adverse Weather and Health Plan
