Two research posts published by Carbon Brief illustrate how England’s health services buckled under extreme heat in 2026. One report focuses on the June heatwave, which drove ambulance demand to record levels across every ambulance service in England. The other details how the combined May and June heatwaves forced NHS hospitals to cancel more than 1,000 operations.
The reports agree that this year’s unusual heat was not just an environmental event but a public health emergency. Both point to the direct pressure on hospitals and emergency services, with warm temperatures expected to become more common as the climate changes.
Where they differ is in timeframe and scope: the ambulance analysis zeroes in on the June spike in emergency calls, while the operations data spans both months and captures the knock-on effect on planned care. Taken together, they make plain that the NHS faces a dual challenge—responding to acute heat-related emergencies while trying to maintain routine services in the same hot conditions.