Who is Exposed to Heat Stress?

Heat stress is not experienced equally across UK society. The people most exposed to heat stress are often those who are least able to adapt to it.

Older people, young children, people with health conditions, disabled people and those living alone are particularly vulnerable. So are people living in homes which are poorly ventilated, overcrowded or located in dense urban areas with limited shade or green space.

The human consequences of heat stress are already very serious and are set to increase as climate change continues. The Climate Change Committee’s latest assessment (Ref: CCC’s A Well-Adapted UK, May 2026) says that heat-related excess deaths in UK heatwave periods are already in the range of 1,400–3,000 each year. Without additional adaptation, the CCC estimates that this could rise to 3,000 to 10,000 deaths each year by 2050. 

Heat stress is therefore not simply a climate risk: it is also a health, social, property and workplace risk.

Clear Safeguarding and Operational Risks

Care homes and hospitals require particular attention as places where people may be physically vulnerable and unable to take simple protective steps without help. If these buildings overheat, the risk is not theoretical. It can quickly become a safeguarding, operational and legal issue.

Workers are another exposed group, especially outdoor workers in the construction, agriculture, highways and utilities sectors. Indoor workers can also be at risk: warehouses, kitchens, factories, plant rooms, schools, hospitals and poorly ventilated offices can all become difficult or unsafe workplaces during heat events.

This may have legal consequences. 

Although UK health and safety law does not currently set a fixed maximum workplace temperature (note: the CCC report calls for this to be introduced), employers must still assess and manage risks to health and safety, including heat stress. As hotter summers become more common, it will become harder to argue that heat risk is unexpected or exceptional.

Businesses and asset owners are also exposed. Heat can disrupt operations, increase cooling costs, place pressure on energy systems, affect staff welfare and reduce the usability of buildings. The Law Society’s Supplementary Technical Note identifies a range of risks linked to temperature increase, including risks to building fabric, transport and utility infrastructure, health and wellbeing, energy demand and business productivity from higher temperatures in working environments.

Future Building and Infrastructure Resilience

This is important for property due diligence. A building may be legally compliant today but still be poorly adapted for future heat. That may affect occupiers, tenants, lenders, insurers and purchasers over the longer term.

The same applies to roads, railways, power systems, water networks, digital infrastructure, public transport networks and healthcare facilities. All need to function during heat events. As the Law Society’s Supplementary Technical Note puts it, “these predicted increases in temperature over prolonged periods will affect how people live and work.”

For property lawyers, heat stress is therefore becoming part of the wider duty to consider and, where relevant, alert property clients about climate-related risks. Increasing heat stress could affect occupation, land / building use, value,  insurability, lending, adaptation costs or future regulatory compliance. 

In that sense, heat stress is both a physical climate risk and, increasingly, a climate transition risk, because buildings and businesses may need to adapt as standards, expectations and legal duties evolve. 

Lawyers do not need to become climate scientists, but they do need to recognise when heat risk may be material to the client’s transaction or intended use of the property.

Impacts for your Client

Terra IQ has developed an innovative, rich dataset that provides environmental and property data providers greater insight into the localised impacts of heat stress. This enables their law firm clients to better advise clients on potential asset value risks, retrofit costs or possible future health affects to a home or business premises.

To book a demo of the data in action, why not get in touch today?

About the author

Stephen Sykes is Managing Director of Terra IQ Limited. He has been consulted by the Law Society of England and Wales on climate risk-related matters since 2022, including in relation to climate risk and property transactions.