Colder weather linked to increase in serious injuries

Falling temperatures increase the number of adults admitted to hospital suffering serious injury, according to the largest study of its kind.

Every 5C drop in temperature – for example due to severe night time frost – boosts adult admissions for serious injury by more than three per cent, while snow leads to an eight per cent rise.

This means if one day the minimum temperature is 10C but the next day it drops to 5C, the number of admissions will increase.

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And every additional 10mm of rainfall also increases trauma admissions by 2.2 per cent, according to the study, which tracked hospital data and weather patterns for a decade.

Major reasons for admission include traffic accidents and falls, the study showed.

At the other end of the scale, every 5C temperature rise above daily maximum during the summer boosts the number of hospital admissions among children by 10 per cent.

Researcher Giles Pattison, from the University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire, said the study suggests the UK is not so well prepared for winter months.

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He said in the mid west of America, where temperatures can fall dramatically, the number of hospital admissions actually goes down.

"If it snows there, there's a siege mentality, people take a snow day, and don't go to work. Here, it's different. People go out to work, or they don't really know how to drive in the conditions and they get into accidents."