The UK Health Security Agency has issued an Amber Alert for the South East of England with temperatures expected to drop below 0 degrees in areas of the District.
The Alert is in place between Tuesday 6th January at 10am and Sunday 11th January at 12pm.
The Met Office has also issued a Yellow Warning for Ice on Wednesday 7th January, covering much of the country.
During this period, significant impacts are possible across the health and social care services due to the low temperatures, including:
- a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions. We may also see impacts on younger age groups
- a likely increase in demand for health services
- temperatures inside places like hospitals, care homes, and clinics dropping below the levels recommended for assessing health risks
- challenges keeping indoor temperatures at the recommended 18°C leading to more risk to vulnerable people
- staffing issues due to external factors (such as travel delays)
- other sectors starting to observe impacts (such as transport and energy)
For further information, please visit the following resources:
- UKHSA – Cold Weather Alerts
- Rother District Council – Extreme Weather Advice
- Gov.UK – Keeping warm and well: staying safe in cold weather
- NHS – Winter vaccinations and winter health
- Met Office – UK Weather Warnings
Severe Weather Emergency Protocol
Due to the drop in temperatures RDC have activated our Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) and we will be reviewing this daily.
Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) is a locally agreed procedure and offer, followed to minimise risk of harm to anyone who might be sleeping rough in severe weather, through the provision of emergency accommodation.
Rough sleepers in Rother, without access to accommodation and requiring assistance should approach the council via the Town Hall London Road, Bexhill on Sea, TN39 3JX during office hours.
Where a customer is not able to get to the Town Hall in person, they should contact the council via 01424 787000 during office hours.
For assistance out of office hours the contact number to use is 0330 123 3517.
Published: 7th January 2026
