Guidance

Looking after children and those in early years settings before and during cold weather: teachers and other educational professionals

Published 11 September 2023

Applies to England

Who this guidance is for

This guidance has been produced by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) with engagement from the Department for Education (DfE). It is intended for those who work in or manage schools or early years settings and offers advice on looking after children attending these settings during cold weather. It applies to:

• early years and childcare
• wraparound childcare and out of school settings
• children’s social care
• schools
• alternative provision settings
• special educational needs and disability (SEND) and specialist settings

There is separate guidance on keeping warm and well: staying safe in cold weather, which provides general advice to households, including those with young children, on how to reduce risks from exposure to adverse cold weather.

While time spent outdoors, exercise and play are all integral for children and young people’s wellbeing and development, children can be at risk of harm from adverse cold weather, ice and snow because of their physiology and behaviours.

Among children and young people, those aged 5 years and under are at greatest risk of harm from adverse cold weather, especially if they have underlying health conditions. This guidance therefore focuses predominantly on children in this younger age group, although it also provides general advice on the care of older children. Where a child has complex health conditions or clinical vulnerability, parents or carers should seek advice from their clinical team and share with relevant staff. Further information about supporting children with medical conditions is available from the DfE.

Health risks to children and young people from adverse cold weather

Exposure to adverse cold weather can affect children and young people in a number of ways. Among other health problems, it can increase the risks of:

• respiratory infections
• skin conditions, such as eczema
• mental health problems

Children aged 5 years and under are particularly vulnerable to the effects of adverse cold weather. However, the effects of cold, especially in combination with other environmental conditions including damp, can affect children of all ages and particularly those with underlying medical conditions.

Actions to take before and during adverse cold weather

To prepare for and respond to severe weather, including cold temperatures, snow and icy conditions, settings can follow the general guidance set out in DfE’s Emergency planning and response for education, childcare, and children’s social care settings. This document includes advice on developing emergency plans to prepare for risks from adverse cold weather, and approaches which can be used for communicating with parents, carers and others in the event of severely cold temperatures. It also includes advice on making decisions about closing education and childcare settings if weather conditions are severe enough to warrant this. It also sets out advice on the provision of remote education, where appropriate.

Settings can also sign up to receive Weather-Health Alerts from UKHSA and the Met Office. These alerts underpin the Adverse Weather and Health Plan.

Buildings and premises

Preparing for cold weather

Settings can consult:

• DfE’s advice on standards for school premises which outlines expectations concerning health, safety and welfare of children in education and childcare settings including in response to adverse cold weather
• the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) guidance on managing cold temperatures in the workplace, and icy conditions and winter weather
• the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s (ESFA) guidelines on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in schools

Settings can help meet these recommendations and protect those on-site by:

• ensuring heating systems are maintained and in good working order
• draught-proofing windows, doors and other points of energy loss
• identifying points of higher risk of injury on their premises in the event of ice and/or snow, such as at entrances, exits and playground areas, and prioritising these for clearance or gritting when snow and/or ice occur
• ensuring adequate supplies of grit to clear ice and/or snow if these occur during the winter months
• ensuring adequate supplies of equipment (for example shovels and gloves) to support gritting and clearance of key routes through the premises if ice and/or snow occur

During cold weather

Adverse cold weather, snow and ice may create hazardous conditions for children, parents, carers and staff. Settings can reduce this risk by:

• gritting and removing ice and/or snow from priority areas and routes
• prioritising maintenance of heating systems to keep rooms being used warm
• closing rooms or buildings that are too cold for children, young people and staff members to use

Advice on keeping buildings warm during adverse cold weather can be adapted from guidance above to prepare for cold weather.

Finally, consider ventilating indoor spaces, especially those where people gather, even for short periods each day to help reduce the risk of spread of infection.

Supporting children

Preparing for cold weather

Reducing the risk of infections before and during cold weather spells is important for protecting children’s health. Settings can support this by:

• promoting vaccination for flu for children to help reduce risks from respiratory infections during the winter and encouraging parents and carers to keep their children up to date with routine immunisations
• reinforcing public health messages around hand and respiratory hygiene and taking other steps to prevent the spread of infections during the winter
• providing advice on appropriate clothing for adverse cold weather, ice or snow
• providing parents with information on children attending school or early years settings when ill

Adverse cold weather may cause challenges for parents or carers at home. For further advice on these support measures or about how to stay warm and well during cold weather, please consult:

• UKHSA guidance on keeping warm and well
• the Met Office guidance on how to get your home and property winter ready and keeping your home warm this winter
• GOV.UK guidance on help for households
• the NHS England information on how to stay well in winter

During cold weather

Settings can support children and young people during adverse cold weather episodes by:

• encouraging physical activity where possible to help keep children and young people warm where appropriate, while reinforcing advice on appropriate activities and clothing to wear during adverse cold weather, ice and/or snow
• providing information to children, young people and their parents or carers on important logistical changes during severe weather episodes such as changes to key bus routes
• completing risk assessments and providing advice on reducing the risk of injury in icy and/or snowy conditions, and outdoor play in these conditions where risk assessments indicate this is possible
• ensuring sufficient supply of hot meals and snacks while children are in settings
• continuing to reinforce public health messages around hand and respiratory hygiene to reduce the risks from infections during the winter
• continuing to signpost to parents and carers of vulnerable children to key sources of support (for example heating and other energy efficiency measures) during cold weather periods, where appropriate

Additional advice on caring for babies in cold weather

Staff in nurseries and other early years settings should be mindful that, while it is important to ensure babies are appropriately protected from cold, they should also not get too hot. Overheating can increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Babies can overheat because of too much bedding or clothing, or because the room is too hot. More information about how to reduce the risk of babies overheating is available from NHS England.

Supporting staff

To help prepare for cold weather, settings can:

• promote vaccination for COVID-19 and/or flu among those staff who are eligible, to help reduce the risks from respiratory infections during the winter
• ensure relevant staff members are aware of and understand emergency and/or cold weather plans, including cascading plans to others where relevant
• support training for staff to help them identify those children most likely to be at risk from adverse cold weather and then signpost parents and carers to sources of support as outlined above, drawing on established resources such as UKHSA’s ‘Helping people living in cold homes’ e-learning module
• test out and ensure that local dissemination systems for CHAs are fully operational and effective, and that staff understand what actions to take when they receive them.

Further resources and information

Additional cold weather guidance documents include:

• Keeping warm and well: staying safe in cold weather guidance
• Adverse Weather and Health Plan
• Adverse Weather and Health Plan: supporting evidence
• Weather-Health Alerting System: user guide

About the Cold-Health Alert System

Cold-Health Alerts will be issued to those who have signed up to the CHA system when the weather conditions have the potential to impact the health and wellbeing of the population. The alerts will be given a colour (yellow, amber or red) based on the combination of the impact the weather conditions could have, and the likelihood of those impacts being realised. These assessments are made in conjunction with the Met Office when adverse weather conditions are forecast.

Yellow and amber alert assessments cover a range of potential impacts, for example impacts on specific vulnerable groups such as people sleeping rough, through to wider impacts on the general population. They also cover the likelihood (low to high) of those impacts occurring. This combination of information on impacts and likelihood should help those making decisions about the appropriate level of response during an alert period. Within the alert that is issued, the combination of impact and likelihood will be displayed within a risk matrix. Red alerts indicate a national emergency with a risk to life for the general population, with wide ranging temperature impacts outside the health sector.

Once the decision is made to issue an alert (yellow, amber or red), these will be cascaded to those registered to receive the alerts and made available on a dedicated web platform. Alerts will be issued with as much lead time to the event as possible to allow users time to make their local assessments and to initiate all appropriate actions to reduce harm to health. Users should review every alert when issued to ensure they fully understand the potential impacts and how likely they are to occur.