Peak of 2022 heatwave forced fifth of UK hospitals to cancel operations – research

Findings reveal level of disruption over three days in July when temperatures reached as high as 40C

Almost a fifth of hospitals in the UK were forced to cancel operations during the three days in July last year when temperatures soared highest, research suggests.

The findings, published in a letter to the British Journal of Surgery, are based on surveys of surgeons, anaesthetists and critical care doctors who were working during the peak of last year’s heatwave, from 16-19 July, when temperatures reached as high as 40C in some parts of the country.