Warning as heatwave sparks record 999 ambulance calls

A record-breaking heatwave put pressure on an ambulance service "completely beyond anything it has ever experienced".

The South Western Ambulance Service (SWASFT) has revealed it dealt with its busiest ever day, responding to 4,350 incidents on the hottest June day recorded in the UK last month.

New summer plans, similar to how the authority deals with winter peaks, are being introduced as SWASFT leaders warned North Somerset Council that "science tells us we have got heatwaves coming periodically".

But leaders also warned people to only dial 999 in emergencies, after "many calls" related to sunburn, feeling overheated and mild dehydration due to alcohol intake.

Talking about June's heatwave to a health committee, a SWASFT spokesperson said: "That placed an extensive amount of pressure on our service and that's completely beyond anything we have ever experienced.

"What's different this year is that the heat is more extreme and it's more frequent in terms of how often it's peaking and troughing as opposed to just a sustained period across the summer."

SWASFT's previous busiest day came exactly a month beforehand on 26 May, also during hot weather, when it responded to 3,941 callouts.

It comes with 23 million people expected to visit the south-west of England in the summer holidays amid more heatwaves.

With the school summer holidays due to start shortly and further hot weather forecast, the service said it is now planning for similarly busy days.

"Looking ahead, the science tells us we have got heatwaves coming periodically now over the next two months and we are almost positioning ourselves into kind of like a winter planning mode but into the summer instead," SWAFT told the committee.

"So we are putting lots of different bits and pieces in place to make sure our service is resilient and able to meet that demand."

On 25 June, a then record-breaking temperature for the month of 36.7C (98F) was recorded in Merryfield in Somerset. That was broken the very next day when 37.3C (99F) was recorded in Suffolk.

From the middle of this week, the heat is forecast to intensify again, with temperatures of up to 34C (93F) for some.

Amber heat-health alerts have been issued by the UK Health Security Agency for the Midlands, eastern and southern England from 09:00 BST on 8 July to 21:00 on 12 July.

Scientists say climate change is making heatwaves more common across the country and warn that hotter summers could become the norm.

Between 2015 and 2024, the number of days exceeding 30C in the UK more than trebled compared with the 1961-1990 average, according to the Met Office.

Similarly, the Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC), which covers Bristol, Bath, parts of Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, said last year was its busiest ever.

GWAAC crews were called to help 2,344 critically ill or injured people in 2025 and the charity said 2026 has been similarly busy so far, but it did not specifically cite hot weather as a factor.

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