Freezing Weather Triggers Opening Of Emergency Homelessness Shelters Across Britain

Last year an estimated 78 people died on the country's streets during winter.
LOADINGERROR LOADING

Emergency shelters for the homeless have been opened across the country in a bid to help prevent the deaths of rough sleepers on the UK’s streets as freezing temperatures hit.

The Met Office is forecasting temperatures to fall below zero for the next couple of nights, after Arctic temperatures began travelling down towards Britain, prompting a blast of colder weather.

In London, Mayor Sadiq Khan said dropping temperatures meant all emergency shelters would be open to rough sleepers in the city throughout the weekend, with more than 700 spaces at severe weather shelters available every night, in addition to more than 600 beds in shelters run by faith and community groups.

Councils in Gloucester, Bournemouth, Cheltenham, Suffolk, Birmingham and Colchester are among those to also trigger their severe weather emergency protocol measures, known as SWEP.

As freezing temperatures are forecast over the next few days, emergency shelters will be open across London so rough sleepers have a warm place to stay. Download the @Tell_StreetLink app to help rough sleepers access services. https://t.co/nNKOak6Lfd pic.twitter.com/w81QwwwI0Z

— Mayor of London (@MayorofLondon) January 3, 2019

But Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Jason Kelly said the country would not yet be seeing a repeat of the “beast from the east” – which saw Britain plunged into deep snow and ice for weeks in March last year and resulted up to 78 deaths on the UK’s streets.

The scale of homeless deaths was laid bare in December, with some 597 people sleeping rough or in emergency accommodation estimated to have died in the last year in England and Wales, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. The figure represented a 24% leap from 482 in 2013, according to the department’s first research of its kind.

According to a November report by charity Shelter, 320,000 people in Britain are homeless, equivalent to one in every 200 people in Britain.

The highest levels are in London, where almost 170,000 people are without a place to call home. Plenty of areas outside the capital are feeling the impact of the housing crisis too, including Brighton (1 in 67), Birmingham (1 in 73) and Manchester (1 in 135).

Produced by charity Homeless Link, SWEP helps local councils in providing resources to prevent the deaths of people sleeping rough during winter.

As the protocol was triggered, Greg Beales, campaign director at Shelter, told HuffPost UK: “The cold weather exposes how hard life is for people living on the streets where they are already facing dangerous conditions that can severely damage mental and physical health. It’s a disgrace that so many of our fellow citizens are still sleeping rough in modern Britain.

“While we welcome government efforts to try to start tackling the crisis – we also need to see investment in social homes, so people can afford their rent and keep a roof over their head in the first place.”

Beales said members of the public could help by providing rough sleepers with money or a hot drink, but said the best thing to do is get in touch with Streetlink, “who can get outreach services directly to the person.”

Mayor Sadiq Khan also encouraged people to support rough sleepers through the charity’s alert system, or by donating through new contactless donation points, or online.

Last year, the mayor rolled out 35 new TAP London contactless donation points across London as part of his rough sleeping campaign.

A spokesman for the mayor said this was the second time this winter that emergency shelters have been opened, after they were open for four consecutive nights in mid December.

Petra Salva, director of rough sleeper services at St Mungo’s, said: “Our teams are working hard to get people safely indoors. Getting to people quickly really is a matter of life and death.”

PA Graphics

According to the Met Office, temperatures in inner London could drop to zero or minus 1C on Friday night, with the outskirts of the city possibly experiencing minus 2C or minus 3C.

“Most towns and cities [will be] hovering just below freezing or just above depending on the amount of cloud,” said meteorologist Craig Snell.

He added: “You will probably see a frost one of the nights coming up depending on where you are.”

Areas in the West Midlands, Wales and eastern Scotland could see temperatures of around minus 6C and minus 7C on Thursday night and western cities could be hit by minus 2C or minus 3C conditions on Friday night.

Temperatures are expected to remain chilly at the start of the weekend but increased cloud cover could bring milder conditions on Sunday in London.

Snell said: “Subtle differences with the cloud amounts will give some changes to the forecast as we get closer to the weekend.”

Here are the councils providing emergency accommodation

#SWEP is active locally for the next three nights! Please advise anyone you see in need. pic.twitter.com/dxQZnJgSDT

— Gemma Ward 🏛 (@DigCrazyGal) January 3, 2019

#SWEP implemented in #Medway. Rough sleepers who were unable to get to Kingsley House during the day will still be provided with emergency accommodation by contacting our out of hours homelessness service on 01634 304400 https://t.co/wJsnoJS6sj

— Medway Council (@medway_council) January 3, 2019

To keep people safe during severe cold weather, our #SWEP - Severe Weather Emergency Protocol - has been activated. If you are worried about a rough sleeper, please let us know via Streetlink: @Tell_StreetLink, https://t.co/LnXmBKW5Ri, download the app, or call 0300 500 0914. pic.twitter.com/X6AAbEmdPg

— Stroud DC (@StroudDC) January 3, 2019

#SWEP is in place in #Coventry and our info is that it will continue until Saturday 5th Jan. That means anyone can access Harnall Lifehouse, with no restrictions #CovFLN #frontlinenetwork #homeless #homelessness

— ZoeT (@ZoeTHousing) January 3, 2019

❄️We are operating SWEP in #Chichester and #BognorRegis this evening ❄️ Please share and help us spread the word. If you are #homeless and need help, Stonepillow are here to support you. #SWEP #homelessness #coldweather #roughsleeping pic.twitter.com/BmqWrvPMZU

— Stonepillow (@StonepillowChi) January 3, 2019

Very cold weather tonight - if you see someone sleeping on the street please let @Tell_StreetLink know their location or call 0300 500 0914 to access our homeless emergency beds. #SWEP pic.twitter.com/UD4BnTMvHh

— Islington Council (@IslingtonBC) January 3, 2019

Every person sleeping rough in #Redbridge will be offered shelter tonight and over the weekend due to the predicted severe cold weather. Call our out of hours service on 020 8708 5600 or via @Tell_StreetLink if you are concerned about anyone. https://t.co/BAlgy3et5j #SWEP

— Redbridge Council (@RedbridgeLive) January 4, 2019

As night-time temperatures plummet, anyone sleeping rough in Colchester can access emergency accommodation as part of our Severe Weather Emergency Provision. If you are concerned about anyone sleeping rough contact #StreetLink #SWEP pic.twitter.com/FAjSNuefuG

— Colchester Borough Council (@yourcolchester) January 3, 2019

With temperatures due to drop tonight we've opened our emergency cold weather beds ⚠❄ There are spaces available to rough sleepers across the borough. If you see someone sleeping rough please let us know via the app or by phone to help us find them and offer support #SWEP pic.twitter.com/5hTPyg8U9w

— Camden Council (@CamdenCouncil) January 3, 2019

We have triggered our Severe Weather Emergency Protocols. We
are continuing to talk to people who are sleeping rough, telling them about our
all year round accommodation and support. If you see someone sleeping rough
please call 01284 757178 or https://t.co/nROwB9yLJh #SWEP pic.twitter.com/uhiiZAf1ai

— St Edmundsbury BC West Suffolk (@stedsbc) January 3, 2019

Our Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (#SWEP) is activated. We will support partners to keep people safe during severe cold weather. Worried about a rough sleeper? Let us know via Streetlink https://t.co/GGTzHkyIGi download the app or call 0300 500 0914.

— Cheltenham Borough Council (@CheltenhamBC) January 3, 2019

Our Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (#SWEP) is activated. We will support partners to keep people safe during severe cold weather. Worried about a rough sleeper? Let us know via Streetlink https://t.co/GGTzHkyIGi download the app or call 0300 500 0914.

— Cheltenham Borough Council (@CheltenhamBC) January 3, 2019

Every person sleeping rough in Bournemouth and Poole will be offered shelter overnight due to the predicted cold weather over the next few days ❄❄ so please call our colleagues @StMungos on 01202 315962 if you are concerned about anyone #SWEPhttps://t.co/v1RzfZ4sux pic.twitter.com/M1Z0xgo8LB

— Bournemouth Council (@bournemouthbc) January 2, 2019

We've triggered our Severe Weather Emergency Protocol. Our teams are out and about providing accommodation to people sleeping rough, telling them about our year round support. If you see someone sleeping rough please call 0300 500 0914 or https://t.co/B2BLBzLmDO #SWEP pic.twitter.com/sU3d5fTbkI

— GloucesterCityCncl (@GloucesterCity) January 3, 2019

With the weather set to drop below freezing tonight, Severe Weather Emergency Protocol has been activated. In the latest #Birmingham Blog, Cllr @SThompson_JP explains how you can help the #homeless to get indoors and #staysafe https://t.co/RrrR0ksBTO pic.twitter.com/NWD3UCQT7J

— Bham City Council (@BhamCityCouncil) January 3, 2019
Close

What's Hot