FOI reference: FOI-2025-2982
You asked
I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act regarding cold-related deaths among individuals aged 65 and over.
Specifically, I would like to know the number of cold-related deaths (including causes such as hypothermia, influenza, pneumonia, or other cold-exacerbated conditions) in the UK among people aged 65 and above between 16 September 2024 and 9 June 2025.
If available, I would appreciate any breakdowns by cause of death or month within this period.
We said
Thank you for your request.
We are responsible for the production of mortality data for England and Wales, this is driven by information collected from the death certificate at death registration. National Records Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for statistics pertaining to Scotland and Northern Ireland. They can be contacted at foi@nrscotland.gov.uk and info@nisra.gov.uk respectively.
All of the conditions mentioned on the death certificate are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). From all of these causes an underlying cause of death is selected using ICD-10 coding rules. The underlying cause of death is defined by WHO as:
a) the disease or injury that initiated the train of events directly leading to death, or
b) the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced the fatal injury
The applicable ICD-10 codes are:
J09-J18 - Influenza and Pneumonia
T68 - Hypothermia
Table 3 of our deaths registered weekly in England and Wales dataset presents deaths involving influenza or pneumonia (codes J09-J189). These statistics define "due to" as deaths where influenza and pneumonia were the underlying cause, and "involving" where influenza and pneumonia were a contributory mention on the death certificate. This publication does not include age breakdowns.
We have not conducted analysis of deaths due or involving hypothermia, nor have we undertaken analysis of influenza and pneumonia deaths of this specific period with age disaggregation. If you would like to commission this analysis using provisional data, this can be requested using our bespoke pathway. Special extracts and tabulations of mortality data for England and Wales are available to order via our bespoke services route. These services are subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreements of costs in line with the ONS Charging Policy.
For further information please contact Health.data@ons.gov.uk
As the requested information is reasonably accessible via another route, either on our website or via our bespoke services route, Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies.